Category: Obesity

Journalists Dig Into Vaccine Debate and America’s Obesity Rates

KFF Health News staff made the rounds on national and local media in recent weeks to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.

Proposed Coverage of Anti-Obesity Drugs in Medicare and Medicaid Would Expand Access to Millions of People with Obesity

This policy watch examines the implications of new proposed regulations that would allow Medicare and require Medicaid to cover drugs used to treat obesity, including a relatively new class of highly effective but costly drugs known as GLP-1s.

How Many Adults with Private Health Insurance Could Use GLP-1 Drugs

More than two in five (42%) or 57.4 million adults under 65 with private insurance could be eligible under clinical criteria for GLP-1 drugs used to treat people with type 2 diabetes, obesity, or excess weight and weight-related health issues, accordin…

A gastroenterology approach to obesity [PODCAST]

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! In this episode, we dive into the complexities of obesity with gastroenterologist Pooja Singhal. Together, we explore the media’s portrayal of new obesity medication…

Many kids benefit from GLP-1s. What happens when they have to stop taking them?

At the November 2022 Obesity Week in San Diego, it was clear something big was happening. A late-breaking session released results of the STEP TEENS phase IIIa trial, showing 16 percent weight loss in adolescents with obesity treated with once-weekly s…

Are rapid weight loss drugs hiding the real obesity problem?

According to some academics, in 2019, a ban on junk food advertising across London’s entire public transport network—foods and drinks high in fat and salt and ads for foods–resulted in the prevention of 100,000 obesity cases. Yet the U.S. love af…

How Little Denmark Got Homegrown Giant Novo Nordisk To Lower Ozempic Prices

As Congress pushes for Medicare to cover payment for anti-obesity drugs, Denmark — Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk’s home — has limited coverage of the drug after cost overruns “emptied all the money boxes in the entire public health system.”

How quality sleep can boost your weight loss journey [PODCAST]

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Join Nisha Kuruvadi, an internal medicine physician, as we explore the intriguing connection between sleep and weight loss. Did you know those precious hours of sleep coul…

Obesity management in rheumatology [PODCAST]

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Join us for a conversation with Zachary Fellows, a rheumatologist who spent nearly four years in private practice navigating the complex intersection of obesity and rheuma…

Are Ozempic patients on a slow-moving runaway train?

Have you ever heard of a drug called Ozempic? Just kidding. As we all know, this medicine and numerous related drugs are the rage. It is classified as a GLP-1 drug. The percentage of my patients who are taking these drugs is steadily rising. Of course,…