Prescriptions for obesity management drugs increasing

Prescriptions of obesity management drugs (OMDs) have increased, and these increasing trends are associated with online search trends, according to a study published online Jan. 29 in JAMA Network Open.

Philipp Berning, M.D., from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and colleagues examined prescription patterns and online search trends for OMDs and correlated usage dynamics with public engagement in a repeated cross-sectional study. Trends in OMD prescriptions and online searches were analyzed visually, and quantitative correlations were calculated.

The researchers found that 69,213,936 prescriptions for OMDs were dispensed in the United States during the study period, with an increase of 0.76 to 0.80 million from July 2017 to June 2018 and an increase from 1.29 to 1.51 million from March 2023 to February 2024 (mean annual growth rate, 5.3%). In February 2024, total monthly OMD prescriptions reached 1.5 million, accounting for 0.41% of all prescriptions that month. The most prescribed OMDs were phentermine, semaglutide (Wegovy), liraglutide (Saxenda), and tirzepatide (Zepbound).

By February 2024, phentermine, Wegovy, and Zepbound had about 0.74, 0.42, and 0.25 million monthly prescriptions, respectively. Online searches reflected prescription trends, with Wegovy, Zepbound, and phentermine at 636.3, 468.9, and 301.8 per 10 million (all February 2024). Wegovy and Zepbound had the strongest correlations between prescriptions and search volumes.

“These findings may provide insight for health care professionals and policy makers, as they highlight the rapid adoption by clinicians (including nonphysician professions) of state-of-the-art obesity treatments and their growing public interest,” the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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