Health Beat: Eli Lilly’s Zepbound (Tirzepatide) No Longer In Shortage (And Why It Matters)
Health Beat is a feature at LGBTSr highlighting health news and issues.
The good news: I’ve lost 24 pounds, with another 20 to go, using Tirzepatide. I’m not arguing for or against using weight loss medication, but after more than a decade of needing to lose some serious weight I’ve finally been able to do it.
The not-so-good news: It’s very expensive for those of us who have to pay the full cost out of pocket. As a Medicare recipient, it’s not covered, unless you have some serious underlying health condition. Eventually this may change, because a lot of expensive medical issues arise from obesity and it would be more affordable for Medicare (and the supplemental health and drug insurance plans) to cover these than to pay the exorbitant costs of heart disease and other serious weight-related illnesses.
My initial cost for Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s brand-name version, was over $1,000 out of pocket for four pre-loaded injection pens. That’s one month, and after two months I had to find an alternative. Enter Henry Meds, a well-known online telehealth provider. Because drugs like Tirzepatide (Zepound) and Semaglutide (Ozempic) were classified as being in shortage (short supply) compounding pharmacies were allowed to offer a much less expensive version made of the drug and other additives, such as B12. A week ado, the FDA announced that Tirzepatide is no longer in this classification, and the compounders have abruptly stopped being able to supply it.
But the story doesn’t end there! A few weeks ago it was widely reported in the news that Eli Lilly is offering the vial version for half the cost … so I’m now able to get this directly from Lilly at something close to an affordable, but still very high, price per month. The vial version simply means it comes in a small vial and has to be injected like insulin, rather than the much more expensive epi-pen version.
The other drugs are still in shortage, so for now people using compounding pharmacies can still get the generic Ozempic for $300 a month or so. Eventually the drug companies will make that impossible, too, but I believe the costs will continue to drop …and so will the weight of a needlessly obese America.
A word on lifestyle changes
I know these drugs are very popular, and I see their proliferation in social media posts, as if they are some sort of miracle in a syringe. Unless you’re diabetic or taking one of these drugs for a chronic illness, they are not ‘forever drugs’ in my opinion. For one thing, there may be long-term side effects that have not shown up yet. And for another, I don’t want to rely on giving myself an injection every week to keep the weight off. For those of us who view this as a tool and not a crutch, we must change how we eat, and we must improve our relationship to food. I have not had sweets for three months – I don’t miss then, I don’t want them, and I treat them the way I treat alcohol after ten years without a drink: there is no compromising. If it’s your last day on Earth, I will not have a piece of cake to celebrate your life. You can eat one and I’ll watch. I hope to be down to my ideal weight by the end of the year, and then it’s time to wean off this. Remember, a tool, not a crutch.