The success of the injections does demonstrate that all of those claiming they were obese even though they only ever ate a plate of lettuce were not being honest because all the medication does to help them lose weight is reduce their appetites so that they actually eat sensible portions and, miraculously, the laws of physics which they previously denied applied to their bodies have been proved to work! 🤣
However, I think the fewer morbidly obese people there are, the better. Far less needless suffering from avoidable diseases caused by morbid obesity and the mental health difficulties that also often result from that, and it will much better for the NHS to pay for effective preventative interventions rather than far more expensive treatment for related conditions developed later as a result of ongoing morbid obesity. The NHS should do far more preventative medicine in all areas of health because it has far better patient outcomes and cuts costs significantly.
It seems there can be very unpleasant and significant side effects like with many medications so it would be unwise to take them unless everything else had been tried to control the obesity first so I don’t think it would be appropriate for the NHS to start funding this for anybody over a certain BMI without them having support to try other options first without such risks attached. The risks also need to be thoroughly explained to people and the patient’s medical history and family medical history should be thoroughly reviewed beforehand to assess suitability.
People buying the medication online without proper oversight from a doctor is quite concerning but as it’s legal currently for there to be private prescriptions, that is their choice. I would question whether online prescribing ensures patients do actually understand the risks? I also think though that the NHS should be recording the cost of medical treatment required due to adverse side effects caused by private prescriptions of these drugs and if this becomes significant perhaps allowing private pharmacies to prescribe it should be reviewed/ have stricter criteria imposed: there should be a proper cost/ benefit analysis because there’s still a cost to the taxpayer associated with private prescriptions: the cost of treatment for associated pancreas/ gall bladder/ digestive issues and other side effects and adverse reactions treated via the NHS, and given that the significant risks associated with obesity-related illnesses aren’t present in people who are just a little overweight in these cases there is not the associated cost saving to the NHS/ taxpayer to outweigh the cost of treating the side effects in the unlucky ones who are just a bit overweight and obtain private prescriptions outside the NHS criteria then have an adverse reaction. It may be good value for money, or not, but data needs to be collected by weight, BMI, dose, type of side effect, cost of treatment so that rational and evidence-based criteria for the permissibility of private prescribing can be issued.
It’s interesting and positive that research is uncovering health benefits from these drugs in addition to them being appetite suppressants however, there are clearly significant risks and we need to ensure these are being accurately recorded and managed and weighed against the benefits (excuse the pun!). There’s certainly a risk that some people may be taking them as a lifestyle drug rather than due to medical need when other interventions would be far less dangerous and equally effective if diets etc were actually followed because ultimately that’s exactly what the drugs get people to do, but with these added risks. Overall though, they seem to be helping a lot of people be healthier who couldn’t manage to eating sensible portions/ healthy food of their own accord and it seems to have been transformative for many. It’s annoying that these topics often descend into polarised extreme views often ignoring the facts that don’t fit a poster’s personal viewpoint or narrative so it’s good to see (some!) posters here having a balanced discussion.