According to documents, major pharmaceutical companies have already spent more than $3 million urging the government to crack down on imitation weight-loss medications. Politico claims that Novo Nordisk, the company that makes Ozempic and Wegovy, has engaged a number of lobbying firms to pressure politicians to adopt a tougher stance against businesses manufacturing unapproved copies of the medications.
The FDA said earlier this year that a years-long scarcity of semaglutide (Ozempic) was over, which led to an increase in illegal and counterfeit forms of the medication. According to the FDA’s website, those versions, referred to as compounded medications, “can be risky for patients, as unapproved versions do not undergo FDA’s review for safety, effectiveness, and quality before they are marketed.”
Novo Nordisk spent $3 million on lobbying in the first quarter of this year, according to a Politico analysis of lobbying data. Eli Lilly, a fellow maker of the weight-loss medications Zepbound and Mounjaro, also spent $3 million on lobbying overall. According to the site, the two businesses enlisted the assistance of over ten lobbying firms, including Avoq, Holland & Knight, and Williams and Jensen.
“Novo Nordisk has publicly and openly advocated for changes to our health care system to benefit patients, and as part of those efforts, we participate in advocacy and stakeholder engagements,” a Novo Nordisk spokeswoman told The Independent in a statement. Our company operations demonstrate our steadfast dedication to moral business behavior and completely conform to applicable laws.
Manufacturers of compounds (compounders) were legally allowed to use chemicals from FDA-approved manufacturers when the FDA notified shortages of Wegovy in March 2022 and for Wegovy and Ozempic in August 2022. With the shortage now declared to be over, unauthorized versions have been banned, though the FDA has granted additional time for compounders to scale back operations and customers to switch treatments.
Another complication for the firms and their lobbyists is that Robert F Kennedy Jr, the Health and Human Services Secretary has previously voiced opposition to weight-loss medications. In October, Kennedy responded to a study indicating that Ozempic could potentially aid in treating issues such as drug addiction, sleep apnea, and cognitive decline. The newly appointed health secretary asserted that pharmaceutical companies were attempting to market the drug to Americans “because we’re so stupid and so addicted to drugs.”
Lobbyists are making an effort to modify their proposals appropriately. Shawn O’Neail, an Eli Lilly in-house lobbyist, told Politico that while medication isn’t always the solution, lifestyle and food alone might often be insufficient to prevent or treat chronic conditions like obesity.
“That’s where medicine can help, as part of a comprehensive strategy to treat chronic illness.”
The Independent represents a lot of things, frequently in a unique way. It makes its own decisions on current topics and remains impartial toward political parties. Debate and challenge have always been important to The Independent. In order to provide a fresh voice, it was founded in 1986. Since then, it has supported causes ranging from the Final Say Brexit petition to the legalization of marijuana.
