health
As compounded versions of weight loss drugs disappear, patients are left behind
Now what? The end of compounded versions of powerful and popular obesity drugs leaves people adrift after depending for two years on copies of medications such as Wegovy, Ozempic, and Mounjaro. Because they are no longer deemed by regulators to be in shortage, compounding pharmacies and the telehealth companies they work with must stop offering copies of the treatments. It's a struggle to afford the brand-name medications that can cost as much as $1,000 a month. The pharma companies Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly now offer their drugs at around $350 to $700 a month, but that's still unaffordable to many patients used to paying about $200 a month.
"This is kind of like a lose-lose situation," said Yale's Reshma Ramachandran, a physician who treats many patients taking compounded GLP-1s because they can't afford the branded drugs.
These are more than pocketbook concerns. When patients suddenly stop these medications, their weight and all the other health conditions they were trying to address, like high blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar, can rebound.
STAT's Katie Palmer and Elaine Chen explain how compounding and telehealth companies are responding, including with offers of "personalized" doses.
longevity
Over the last century, where people lived was linked to how long they lived
Life expectancy in many southern U.S. states — especially for females — has risen little over the past century, according to a new analysis of mortality from 1900-2000 published Monday in JAMA Network Open. Despite life expectancy increasing nationally by 10 years in that period, from 73.8 to 84.1 years, life expectancy for females increased by three years or less in several southern states, including Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and West Virginia. For males in many of these states, life expectancy increased between 1900 and 1950, but increased little after 1950. Areas with the highest gains in life expectancy included Washington D.C., which saw an increase from 61.1 to 72.8 years of age, as well as the western and northeastern U.S.
The researchers attribute these state level differences to factors such as cigarette smoking, drug use, environmental factors, vaccination rates, access to effective health care, and socioeconomic factors. They noted that policy choices, such as the tobacco-control policies adopted decades ago by some states, like California, and not adopted in many southern states, could have a marked impact on life expectancy and suggested state level analysis of mortality should help guide policy choices and public health resource interventions. — Usha Lee McFarling
health equity
Report on transgender health for children coming from the White House this week
The Trump administration is set to release a sweeping report about transgender health for children in the United States, according to a new executive order published Monday.
The order says the report has been developed by "eight distinguished scholars." The document also summarizes how the federal government has targeted the trans community and trans health care since the president's inauguration in January — including ending 215 health grants totalling over $477 million, pushing medical professionals to stop using internationally recognized standards of care, and ending federal health benefits coverage for the "mutilation of the children."
Many experts expect the review to resemble the so-called "Cass Review," a lengthy overview of health care for trans youth in England that has been decried by researchers and advocates for failing to provide an adequate picture of gender-affirming care. — O. Rose Broderick
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