The 30th European Congress on Obesity [or ECO] was held in Dublin, Ireland this past week, with keynote sessions and scientific presentations.
Omada Health, Found Health and Virta Health, synchronously announced their direct-to-employer offerings on care for people with obesity, in a clear call from employers on the cost and long-term durability of GLP-1 medications.
Medicare coverage of obesity treatments, and the potential cost implications if Medicare covers anti-obesity drugs, are expertly discussed in KFF.
The Atlantic, states ‘…People taking Ozempic for weight loss say they have also stopped drinking, smoking, shopping, and even nail biting.’
Racial bias in type 2 diabetes risk prediction algorithmic models were evaluated in almost 10,000 adults, and all ‘…models were found to be miscalibrated with regard to race, consistently…’
EVENTS
The 30th European Congress on Obesity [or ECO] was held in Dublin, Ireland this past week; the annual scientific event of the European Association for the Study of Obesity, or EASO. The Opening Plenary session focused upon obesity and inequality, delivered by Sir Michael Marmot – a legend in the field of health inequities, knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, advisor to the UK Government and World Health Organization, and author of one of my most favorite books ever, The Health Gap, the first sentence of which says it all: ‘Why treat people and send them back to the conditions that made them sick?’ in a so befittingly Dickensian manner. Additional sessions at the Congress included the World Health Organization’s health service delivery framework for prevention and management of obesity, and the future of obesity management. The conference speakers comprised some of the foremost global leaders in obesity care… Lee Kaplan, Ted Kyle, Carel Le Roux, Rachel Batterham OBE, Scott Butsch, and Lou Aronne.
NEWS
The World Health Organization released a new guideline this week, ‘…on non-sugar sweeteners (NSS), which recommends against the use of NSS to control body weight or reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases.’ Francesco Branca, WHO Director for Nutrition and Food Safety, was quoted ‘…Replacing free sugars with NSS does not help with weight control in the long term…’ and continues that ‘…People should reduce the sweetness of the diet altogether…’ The sugars referred to are those found in diet-type foods, namely aspartame, saccharin, and stevia. The evidence stems from a recent systematic review of 283 published studies where NSS may be effective at short-term weight loss through a reduction in total energy intake, with possibility of long-term harm, in the form of increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and mortality – the evidence of the latter is weak at best.
Omada Health, a virtual care platform for patients with diabetes, is ‘…pitching itself as a gatekeeper…’ to medications for weight management, namely GLP-1 agonists.
CEO Sean Duffy is quoted in Business Insider by Shelby Livingston and Blake Dodge that ‘Omada’s gonna do pretty much the exact opposite of what we’re seeing in the digital-health landscape in our competitive set and actually not write GLP scripts’.
The article goes on, ‘…The goal is that by changing their habits, Omada can help patients keep a lot of the weight off, even though clinical-trial data shows people are likely to regain weight once they stop taking the GLP-1 drugs.’
I agree that ‘…Employers want to make sure that if they choose to pay for the drugs, they do it in a way in which they get the most value…’ – akin to an approach where a patient follows an intensive physiotherapy regimen after hip or knee replacement, to achieve the most desirable outcome, for now and the long term. Though I do fervently disagree with ‘…Some employers may require workers to try losing weight through Omada without medication before covering the drug…’, which has been a huge battle for patients to garner prior authorization to undergo bariatric surgery, with zero evidence to support pre-operative weight loss.
Overall, I am fully supportive of the need to achieve and maintain weight loss with a multi-modal approach, to include behavioral, nutrition and exercise therapy, together with medication and surgical intervention, when most appropriate, over a multi-year period.
In Yahoo Finance, Found Health announces its launch of ‘…a clinically-sound, cost-efficient and medication-agnostic obesity treatment program…’ for employers and their workforce, imaginatively called Found for Business. The article mentions the oft heard ‘…they [GLP-1s] are not a silver bullet…’ recounting challenges in terms of cost, access, side effects and weight regain following cessation of GLP-1 therapy. Dr. Rekha Kumar, Chief Medical Officer at Found, describes the ‘…clinically-rigorous, medication-assisted, integrative care model…’ offering 13 different medications, including both generics and GLP-1s, with coaching and lifestyle coaching. The note on ‘…cost-efficient obesity treatment…’ is going to be more apparent in the narrative, attributable to Found CEO Sarah Jones Simmer.
Also in line is a publication from Virta Health, a telehealth approach to diabetes reversal through nutrition and behavioral advice, refencing the cost tsunami of GLP-1 medications. The ‘…cost-effective alternative… helps members lose weight safely and sustainably through virtual, provider-led support and personalized low-carb nutrition.’ One of their employer clients, Jessica Lopez, Chief of Staff at U-Haul states ‘…Our team members who participate in Virta achieve outstanding weight-loss results without the exorbitant expense…’ as ‘…an alternative to invasive options like bariatric surgery and weekly injections.’ Pitting one therapy against another is not an optimal or forward approach – rather, let’s define what works for who, at what time, and to achieve the desired outcomes – in a complementary manner, for the long term.
OPINION
The World Health Organization released a new guideline this week, ‘…on non-sugar sweeteners (NSS), which recommends against the use of NSS to control body weight or reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases.’ Francesco Branca, WHO Director for Nutrition and Food Safety, was quoted ‘…Replacing free sugars with NSS does not help with weight control in the long term…’ and continues that ‘…People should reduce the sweetness of the diet altogether…’ The sugars referred to are those found in diet-type foods, namely aspartame, saccharin, and stevia. The evidence stems from a recent systematic review of 283 published studies where NSS may be effective at short-term weight loss through a reduction in total energy intake, with possibility of long-term harm, in the form of increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and mortality – the evidence of the latter is weak at best.
Omada Health, a virtual care platform for patients with diabetes, is ‘…pitching itself as a gatekeeper…’ to medications for weight management, namely GLP-1 agonists.
CEO Sean Duffy is quoted in Business Insider by Shelby Livingston and Blake Dodge that ‘Omada’s gonna do pretty much the exact opposite of what we’re seeing in the digital-health landscape in our competitive set and actually not write GLP scripts’.
The article goes on, ‘…The goal is that by changing their habits, Omada can help patients keep a lot of the weight off, even though clinical-trial data shows people are likely to regain weight once they stop taking the GLP-1 drugs.’
I agree that ‘…Employers want to make sure that if they choose to pay for the drugs, they do it in a way in which they get the most value…’ – akin to an approach where a patient follows an intensive physiotherapy regimen after hip or knee replacement, to achieve the most desirable outcome, for now and the long term. Though I do fervently disagree with ‘…Some employers may require workers to try losing weight through Omada without medication before covering the drug…’, which has been a huge battle for patients to garner prior authorization to undergo bariatric surgery, with zero evidence to support pre-operative weight loss.
Overall, I am fully supportive of the need to achieve and maintain weight loss with a multi-modal approach, to include behavioral, nutrition and exercise therapy, together with medication and surgical intervention, when most appropriate, over a multi-year period.
In Yahoo Finance, Found Health announces its launch of ‘…a clinically-sound, cost-efficient and medication-agnostic obesity treatment program…’ for employers and their workforce, imaginatively called Found for Business. The article mentions the oft heard ‘…they [GLP-1s] are not a silver bullet…’ recounting challenges in terms of cost, access, side effects and weight regain following cessation of GLP-1 therapy. Dr. Rekha Kumar, Chief Medical Officer at Found, describes the ‘…clinically-rigorous, medication-assisted, integrative care model…’ offering 13 different medications, including both generics and GLP-1s, with coaching and lifestyle coaching. The note on ‘…cost-efficient obesity treatment…’ is going to be more apparent in the narrative, attributable to Found CEO Sarah Jones Simmer.
Also in line is a publication from Virta Health, a telehealth approach to diabetes reversal through nutrition and behavioral advice, refencing the cost tsunami of GLP-1 medications. The ‘…cost-effective alternative… helps members lose weight safely and sustainably through virtual, provider-led support and personalized low-carb nutrition.’ One of their employer clients, Jessica Lopez, Chief of Staff at U-Haul states ‘…Our team members who participate in Virta achieve outstanding weight-loss results without the exorbitant expense…’ as ‘…an alternative to invasive options like bariatric surgery and weekly injections.’ Pitting one therapy against another is not an optimal or forward approach – rather, let’s define what works for who, at what time, and to achieve the desired outcomes – in a complementary manner, for the long term.
DATA
The World Health Organization released a new guideline this week, ‘…on non-sugar sweeteners (NSS), which recommends against the use of NSS to control body weight or reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases.’ Francesco Branca, WHO Director for Nutrition and Food Safety, was quoted ‘…Replacing free sugars with NSS does not help with weight control in the long term…’ and continues that ‘…People should reduce the sweetness of the diet altogether…’ The sugars referred to are those found in diet-type foods, namely aspartame, saccharin, and stevia. The evidence stems from a recent systematic review of 283 published studies where NSS may be effective at short-term weight loss through a reduction in total energy intake, with possibility of long-term harm, in the form of increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and mortality – the evidence of the latter is weak at best.
Omada Health, a virtual care platform for patients with diabetes, is ‘…pitching itself as a gatekeeper…’ to medications for weight management, namely GLP-1 agonists.
CEO Sean Duffy is quoted in Business Insider by Shelby Livingston and Blake Dodge that ‘Omada’s gonna do pretty much the exact opposite of what we’re seeing in the digital-health landscape in our competitive set and actually not write GLP scripts’.
The article goes on, ‘…The goal is that by changing their habits, Omada can help patients keep a lot of the weight off, even though clinical-trial data shows people are likely to regain weight once they stop taking the GLP-1 drugs.’
I agree that ‘…Employers want to make sure that if they choose to pay for the drugs, they do it in a way in which they get the most value…’ – akin to an approach where a patient follows an intensive physiotherapy regimen after hip or knee replacement, to achieve the most desirable outcome, for now and the long term. Though I do fervently disagree with ‘…Some employers may require workers to try losing weight through Omada without medication before covering the drug…’, which has been a huge battle for patients to garner prior authorization to undergo bariatric surgery, with zero evidence to support pre-operative weight loss.
Overall, I am fully supportive of the need to achieve and maintain weight loss with a multi-modal approach, to include behavioral, nutrition and exercise therapy, together with medication and surgical intervention, when most appropriate, over a multi-year period.
In Yahoo Finance, Found Health announces its launch of ‘…a clinically-sound, cost-efficient and medication-agnostic obesity treatment program…’ for employers and their workforce, imaginatively called Found for Business. The article mentions the oft heard ‘…they [GLP-1s] are not a silver bullet…’ recounting challenges in terms of cost, access, side effects and weight regain following cessation of GLP-1 therapy. Dr. Rekha Kumar, Chief Medical Officer at Found, describes the ‘…clinically-rigorous, medication-assisted, integrative care model…’ offering 13 different medications, including both generics and GLP-1s, with coaching and lifestyle coaching. The note on ‘…cost-efficient obesity treatment…’ is going to be more apparent in the narrative, attributable to Found CEO Sarah Jones Simmer.
Also in line is a publication from Virta Health, a telehealth approach to diabetes reversal through nutrition and behavioral advice, refencing the cost tsunami of GLP-1 medications. The ‘…cost-effective alternative… helps members lose weight safely and sustainably through virtual, provider-led support and personalized low-carb nutrition.’ One of their employer clients, Jessica Lopez, Chief of Staff at U-Haul states ‘…Our team members who participate in Virta achieve outstanding weight-loss results without the exorbitant expense…’ as ‘…an alternative to invasive options like bariatric surgery and weekly injections.’ Pitting one therapy against another is not an optimal or forward approach – rather, let’s define what works for who, at what time, and to achieve the desired outcomes – in a complementary manner, for the long term.
