GLP-1 Mythbusting: How Medications Like Wegovy Are Transforming Obesity Care
Enjoy this featured content from our Pinnacle Partner™ Calibrate.
Today, 42% of American adults have obesity, and projections indicate that this number will swell to 51.1% by 2030, meaning that one in every two adults will have obesity by the end of the decade.
Employers are witnessing the emergence of GLP-1 medications in their top 10 utilization lists, and recent estimates have projected that these drugs stand to reach a $100 billion market cap within the next 10 years. However, sustainable weight loss is possible, and high costs are preventable.
These medications are often referred to by their brand names—Wegovy®, Ozempic®, or Saxenda®—to name just a few. Short for glucagon-like peptide-1, GLP-1s are a class of medication that mimic the effect of the GLP-1 hormone naturally produced in the gastrointestinal tract. In clinical trials, GLP-1s have demonstrated 15% weight loss in patients with obesity.
Here, Dr. Kristin Baier—a double board-certified physician and the clinical director at Calibrate, a Businessolver Pinnacle Partner and the first value-based model in obesity treatment—takes on some of the most common misconceptions surrounding GLP-1s.
Myth 1: Everyone is eligible to take GLP-1s
GLP-1s are not for everyone—the FDA and drug manufacturers have laid out specific criteria regarding who is eligible to take these medications. Patients must have a BMI of 30 or above (or a BMI of 27 or above with diabetes, pre-diabetes or another metabolic condition). Additionally, a growing number of employers and payers are considering even narrower clinical criteria for coverage based on the balance between cost and clinical impact.
“At Calibrate, we work with our patients in a one-on-one doctor visit to determine if GLP-1 medications in the program are a good fit and define eligibility criteria where there are significant medical expenses to be saved,” explains Dr. Baier.
Myth 2: GLP-1s work like past weight-loss medications
There are a wide variety of weight loss drugs on the market, including stimulants like phentermine and combination medications like Contrave®. GLP-1s are fundamentally different from these medications due to their mechanism of action.
“Weight loss medications in the past were mostly based on stimulants,” explains Baier. “What these drugs did was rev up the metabolism and suppress appetite, so people had a lot of energy, but with that came a lot of unwanted side effects like heart palpitations, dry mouth, headaches, nausea, anxiety, and insomnia. But the older medications didn’t address underlying biology. So, when people stopped the medication, they usually regained all the weight.”
Myth 3: Taking compounded semagludtide is the same as taking a commercially available GLP-1
As defined by the FDA, drug compounding is the process of combining, mixing, or altering ingredients to create a medication tailored to the needs of an individual patient. Compounded semaglutide is not regulated by the FDA, and the safety and efficacy of semaglutide and other GLP-1 medications compounded with other ingredients has not yet been determined.
“Our members’ medical safety is always our first priority,” Baier stated. “Calibrate doctors only prescribe FDA-approved medications. We do not send GLP-1 prescriptions to compounding pharmacies.”
Myth 4: Side effects of GLP-1s are severe
Baier notes that the most common side effect is nausea: “While 20-30% of patients who take GLP-1 medication will develop nausea, it has been shown to subside in as little as two weeks as one’s body adjusts to the medication,” she says.
Taking GLP-1s with support from medical experts trained to help patients work through any possible side effects helps to further minimize the risk of developing them.
“What we do within Calibrate is start our members on the lowest dose and gradually increase over a few months, which minimizes the potential for side effects developing,” says Baier.
Calibrate members have access to their Medical Team throughout their entire program, and if they do experience any side effects, they’re able to reach out directly for support.
Myth 5: All patients will regain weight once they stop taking GLP-1s
“While some studies show patients regaining most of their lost weight after stopping the medication, our internal studies show people are keeping a clinically significant amount of weight off at 24 months following our initial medication taper discussion,” says Baier, “this is largely due to Calibrate’s approach that addresses the Four Pillars of Metabolic Health—in combination with GLP-1 medication. When we can maintain our lifestyle changes through nutrition, exercise, emotional health, and sleep, we really can sustain our results.”
It’s true that without lifestyle changes, many patients do regain weight when they stop using GLP-1s. However, a thoughtfully designed behavior change program can work alongside medication to amplify results, restore metabolic balance, and support ongoing health, even after medication.
The Calibrate program immerses individuals in research-based intensive lifestyle intervention, delivered via bi-weekly 1:1 coaching sessions and proprietary curriculum developed by an expert clinical advisory board that educates and encourages members to build enduring healthy habits across the four areas essential to lasting metabolic health: food, sleep, exercise, and emotional health.
It’s time to do weight loss differently
Calibrate has been working to prove this since June 2020: “What we are trying to deliver is cost-effective outcomes by leveraging GLP-1 medications as a tool, rather than the entire treatment, and ultimately driving as many members toward sustained, cost-effective weight loss results as possible,” says Calibrate Chief Commercial Officer Scott Honken.
Looking for a strategy to reduce costs and secure better health outcomes across your employee population? By integrating medication with behavior change, Calibrate’s Enterprise product lines deliver an immediate impact on total medical expense through the advancement of impactful metabolic health improvements.
