Pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk has allocated over $25.8 million to U.S. medical professionals to promote its obesity drugs, Wegovy and Saxenda, focusing on an elite group of obesity specialists.
By yourNEWS Media Staff
Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical company renowned for its diabetes medications, has shifted its focus towards becoming a leading weight-loss enterprise. A recent Reuters analysis reveals that Novo Nordisk paid at least $25.8 million over the past decade to U.S. medical professionals, specifically targeting obesity drugs Wegovy and Saxenda.
Dr. Lee Kaplan, a prominent U.S. obesity specialist, has been a key advocate for Novo Nordisk’s agenda. Speaking at an obesity course in Boston, Kaplan urged physicians to consider these new generation weight-loss medicines, such as Wegovy, for the extensive population of overweight Americans. Kaplan’s ties with Novo Nordisk are notable; the company has paid him $1.4 million for consulting and travel from 2013 to 2022.
The company’s financial strategy aims to influence U.S. doctors to widely prescribe Wegovy, hoping also to convince insurers to cover the drug’s costs. Novo’s target market is the 764 million people globally with obesity, focusing particularly on the U.S., where the drug costs $1,300 a month.
In addition to Kaplan, Dr. Donna Ryan, a former president of The Obesity Society and a Louisiana researcher, has received over $1 million from Novo in the last decade, including $600,691 related to Wegovy and Saxenda. Ryan played a pivotal role in advocating for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to cover Wegovy and similar drugs for federal workers.
Pharmaceutical company payments for drug promotion and consulting are legal in the United States, though critics argue that it could influence doctors to prioritize corporate interests over patient care. Both Ryan and Kaplan, however, assert that their collaboration with pharmaceutical companies is essential to progress in treating obesity, a chronic disease they say is under-treated.
Novo’s campaign aims to make Wegovy one of the most prescribed drugs in history. The analysis found that at least 57 U.S. physicians, including many influential obesity specialists, received at least $100,000 each from Novo associated with Wegovy or Saxenda.
The debate continues over the mass prescription of these drugs and their extensive coverage, with some clinicians expressing concerns over the medicines’ serious side effects, the need for more studies, and the financial burden they could impose on the U.S. healthcare system.
Despite these concerns, Kaplan and others funded by Novo Nordisk continue to advocate for the urgent prescription of Wegovy and similar drugs to a large proportion of obesity patients, emphasizing the necessity of long-term treatment for a chronic disease like obesity.
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