Even at $1,000 a month, weight-loss drugs are so popular their makers can’t keep up.
Everywhere we go these days, people are skinnier. Some people are dramatically thinner, with chins and cheekbones newly prominent, their butts and bellies less so.
Others people just look trimmer, like they’ve suddenly been working out a lot and skipping dessert.
It’s the Ozempification of America.
About one in eight Americans have tried Ozempic or another semaglutide, a game-changing class of weight-loss drugs that has noticeably slimmed down a country where 40 percent of the country is considered obese.
Drug-makers say 15 million Americans are currently on the medication and they can’t keep up with rising demand. Novo Nordisk, the Danish maker of Wegovy, another semaglutide, recently said it’s adding 25,000 new U.S. patients every week.
These prescription drugs, originally developed to treat Type 2 diabetes, reduce appetite and slow digestion. They make people far less interested in eating or drinking, reducing “food noise,” the constant thinking about what to snack on next.
Some of the most famous people in the country, from Oprah Winfrey to Elon Musk, have acknowledged taking the drug.
“I’m not constantly thinking about what the next meal is gonna be,” Winfrey said on a recent TV special called, “Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution.”
News about Ozempic and the other semaglutide drugs is everywhere these days. Magazine covers and TV shows are full of photos of newly slim celebrities – juxtaposing them, of course, with images of their former, heavier selves.
Social media is filled with chatter about the drugs—often about who is and who isn’t using them. Some people easily acknowledge it, while others are more private. But dinner parties are now filled with clue-spotting, like when someone stops eating after a couple of bites.
Some are calling semaglutide use “the new orthodonture,” body engineering that is hugely popular but not medically required. America’s ubiquitous braces help with our obsession with straight teeth. Semaglutide is doing the same thing for our jiggly bits.
Semaglutides are not chemical Spanx, despite the hopes of people looking for a quick cosmetic fix for their waistline. A doctor we know says people have asked for a prescription because “I have a wedding coming up, and I need to lose five pounds.” She just shakes her head and tells them it takes at least three months to build up to a large-enough dose to drop much weight.
But for millions of Americans who are seriously overweight, these drugs are effectively causing people to drop 50 or more pounds, reducing their risk of heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and other problems. And, that payoff seems worth enduring the common drugs side effects that include constipation (or the opposite) and a constant, queasy feeling like you have just eaten a huge meal.
The drugs have proven so effective that they are being compared to statins, a class of drugs that lower cholesterol. When statins went mainstream 30 years ago, they overnight lowered the risk of heart attack for tens of millions of people.
Doctors warn that as effective as semaglutide is, it is supposed to complement not substitute for exercise and healthy eating. A doctor told us that semaglutide use is essentially controlled starvation, so it’s vital to exercise and eat well to maintain strong muscles.
And that if the patient doesn’t learn new habits in the year or so when they are on the drug, they could regain the weight if they come off it.
For generations, losing weight required changing lifestyle, eating less and exercising more. Programs like Weight Watchers worked for many but require discipline and patience. Now, people can inject themselves in the belly or thigh once a week and the drugs substitute for willpower.
The drugs are so popular that there is a shortage. They are also expensive. Insurance companies don’t always cover the cost and seem to be looking for reasons not to pay.
Without insurance, the drugs can easily cost more than $1,000 a month. Even with it, any patients can still end up paying a few hundred dollars a month.
There is also a major question about “body positivity,” the movement to accept bodies of all sizes and types, rather than those that conform to societal ideals of beauty. Obsessing over weight loss seems at odds with that philosophy.
But after decades of being known for its supersized people, America is in a downsizing moment. Millions of skinny-curious people are asking for a prescription.
And now when we are out and about in Washington or any city we visit, we see less Americans. Not fewer of them, but definitely less of them.
