FDA approves weight loss drug Zepbound for sleep apnea

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News

Dec. 20, 2024, 4:44 PM EST / Updated Dec. 20, 2024, 5:53 PM EST


The Food and Drug Administration expanded the approval of weight loss drug Zepbound to treat obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity, the drugmaker Eli Lilly said Friday. The decision makes it the first drug treatment for the disorder, which affects about 39 million adults in the United States.

Zepbound, which shares the same active ingredient as Lilly’s diabetes drug Mounjaro, is already approved by the FDA to treat adults who are overweight or have obesity.

The expanded approval could persuade more insurance companies — which have been reluctant to cover the expensive weight loss drugs — to pay for the medication.

“Too often, OSA [obstructive sleep apnea] is brushed off as ‘just snoring’ — but it’s far more than that,” Julie Flygare, president and CEO of Project Sleep, a nonprofit group that raises awareness of sleep health, said in a statement.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-approves-weight-loss-drug-zepbound-sleep-apnea-rcna184916

[IowaUnionman]

1. Semiglutide

The active ingredient in these products is semiglutide which costs about $5.00 to make and we are charged $900 per month. The problem is republicans refuse to negotiate drug prices and this is passed on to Medicare and the insurance companies.

[DivByZero]

2. It's tirzepatide afaik n/t

[Hekate]

3. They don't mention side effects, which I'd like to hear more about. I think I know someone who's using Mounjaro...

…which I think the article mentioned as having the same active ingredient. (I had a bit of trouble reading it at source because of all the blinky-blinky ads but will try again)

We are a nation of lab rats in an experiment designed to see if a constant bombardment of ads for things to eat and drink that are high in calories, fat, salt, sugar, bright colors etc. will result in brain changes that make it impossible to resist.

The weight loss drugs that actually help work on the brain. Other drugs that notoriously cause weight gain, such as those for depression and anxiety — also work on the brain.

Cost is a real issue, of course, our for-profit system being what it is and our insurance companies not interested in using their considerable leverage to bring down costs across the board. In June my doc said he’d see how my blood work was in December before trying something — but it turned into a good news/bad news joke because my results this month were unexpectedly good, with all my ailments under control. Except weight and severe sleep apnea.

Now lo and behold scientists took one ingredient from the weight loss drugs, ran a study with 4,000 sleep apnea patients, and voila, they slapped a new label on it and I qualify. Pardon me while the lab rat laughs its ass off.

[Kali]

4. in general if you lose significant weight, you can improve apnea symptoms.

I think they may have just done a study on apnea patients. the products do seem to work for weight loss. this change in status may help "encourage" insurance cos to start covering it. seems stupid that they don't. I get that weight loss can be a superficial vanity activity but with real obesity there are so many other health issues that can be helped by losing that you would think these fuckers would be interested in addressing the problem.

[Hekate]

5. Back when I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea and issued a CPAP...

..the doc involved in the sleep study said people often lost a lot of weight. Then he was surprised I didn’t.

What he didn’t do was read my list of medications. I’ll skip the long history, but the source of my weight gain and inability to lose it was one of my meds, and I had to find it out myself.

Long story, but as you mentioned, vanity is the least of our worries when we have high blood pressure and Type2 diabetes and all that other crap.

[DenaliDemocrat]

6. GLP-1 drugs are not novel

They have been around for 2 decades.

[Hekate]

7. This is the first I've ever heard of a drug for sleep apnea, and I've been on a CPAP for 20 years

I apologize if I’m displaying uncommon ignorance — but there you have it.

[Footay]

8. This is just the first of many conditions

Mounjaro was approved in June 2022, and I started on it in August that same year. While it's intended for weight loss for me, and has been very successful, there are a host of additional benefits that are now being studied to expand the use. Sleep apnea is just the first on the list. I know there are currently studies for chronic inflammation, cardiovascular conditions and addictions.

My hope is that as each of these conditions is successfully added to the positive attributes associated with GLP-1, they will more widely covered by insurance and the cost will come down.

I am one of the lucky ones whose insurance has covered it from the beginning.