Older Americans quit weight loss drugs in droves(www.seattletimes.com)

14 pointsby paulpauper18 hours ago3 comments

MarkusQ17 hours ago
> Medicare covered it for treating Type 2 diabetes but not for weight loss
> [...] to Bucklew’s surprise, her Medicare Advantage plan covered it even
> though she wasn’t diabetic, charging just a $25 monthly copay.
> [...] Then her Medicare plan notified her that it would no longer cover
> the drug [...] With coverage denied, Bucklew became part of an unsettlingly
> large group: older adults who begin taking GLP-1s and related drugs [...] and
> then stop taking them within months.
This feels like it's really straining the facts to jam them into a narrative, then mostly fails to construct one. Is it an article about drug side effects? Insurance fraud? Health benefits of GLP-1s? Medicare policy?
Strangely, it feels like something that would actually have been more coherent if it had been written by an LLM.
Centigonal17 hours ago
This article showcases multiple causes for why seniors are coming off of these drugs: drug shortages, changing insurance coverage, muscle loss, and other side effects are all included. Let's not be too hasty when attributing cause to this trend.
- MarkusQ16 hours ago
  Why highlight seniors then? The same factors apply to younger patients. The only explanation that makes sense is that "seniors" is a valuable ad word for the market this clickbait gibberish (or rather, "tossed factoid salad") targets.
  - SR2Z10 hours ago
    Seniors are almost all on Medicare and have obesity-related health issues more frequently than young people.
AndrewKemendo18 hours ago
I thought it would take a decade for the side effects to catch up with people but this is way faster than expected.
There are no shortcuts to holistic health.
In a sick and corrupt environment the worn path is harmful by default.
- toomuchtodo17 hours ago
  The elderly are simply not as tolerant of the side effects. It still works fine in younger cohorts who can manage with potential side effects. This means the criteria for use in the elderly needs to be modified so they aren’t force fed this pharma intervention for revenue optimization.
  (both my partner and I, early 40s, are on a GLP-1, with no side effects; we’ve each lost ~40lbs in 4-5 months)
  - AndrewKemendo16 hours ago
    We heard the EXACT same from phenphen users too in the 90s. My friend was the litigator for the class action.
    There’s no biologically free way to lose weight that quickly without massive downstream effects, SOMETHING is going to eventually come out like it always does.
    The fact that people are making conclusions with less than 5 years of evidence is why we’re always screwed.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenfluramine/phentermine
    toomuchtodo15 hours ago
    And I can provide examples of Metformin being very safe with the exception of a few edge cases, while providing exceptional benefit across a wide cross section of the population. Could something exceptional crop up? Potentially. But so far, the data is very compelling GLP-1RAs have a reasonable safety profile for the enormous benefit provided.
    https://intermountainhealthcare.org/blogs/article/your-frien...
    > Are GLP-1s safe? What are the side effects? > GLP-1s have been extensively studied and are considered safe when prescribed and monitored by a healthcare provider.
    With all of this said, I'm open to having a mutually agreed upon subject matter expert provide the equivalent of an opinion letter on the safety of GLP-1RAs at my (reasonable and customary) cost. Feel free to propose one.
- djohnston18 hours ago
  > There are no shortcuts to holistic health.
  I agree with that.
  > I thought it would take a decade for the side effects to catch up with people but this is way faster than expected.
  Regarding the side effects, nothing seemed beyond the realm of what you'd read on the outside of an OTC cold medication. I'm not a doctor but they don't seem that severe.
  - AndrewKemendo17 hours ago
    I suggest you go back and read the article to see the difference between realized effects and the stated effects.
    Are you credulous to what product and drug producers post on a label? Why would you ever believe that?
- solumunus17 hours ago
  These drugs have an incredible effect to side effect ratio. Most people sincerely taking them are in far better health with them than without.