Name: Doctor discusses who could benefit from Trumps deal on weight loss drugs
Uploaded: 2025-11-07T03:49:06.703Z
Duration: 4 min 40 s
Description: At the White House, President Trump announced a deal to make weight loss drugs more affordable. Mr. Trump says drug makers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk agreed to lower the price of their popular GLP-1 drugs. CBS News medical contributor Dr. Céline Gounder explains who might see those lower prices.

At the White House, President Trump announced a deal to make weight loss drugs more affordable. Mr. Trump says drug makers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk agreed to lower the price of their popular GLP-1 drugs. CBS News medical contributor Dr. Céline Gounder explains who might see those lower prices.

Washington

President Donald Trump announced a deal with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to reduce the price of GLP-1 weight loss drugs, such as Wegovy and Zepbound, for eligible American patients. The agreement could lower the monthly cost of Wegovy from $1,350 to $250 for those who qualify, specifically individuals at high risk for complications related to obesity, such as heart disease or kidney failure.

CBS News medical contributor Dr. Celine Gounder clarified that the reduced pricing will not be available to all obese or overweight individuals, nor to everyone on Medicare or Medicaid. She also noted that while these drugs have additional health benefits, more research is needed to determine their effects in broader populations. Dr. Gounder emphasized that GLP-1 drugs are only part of the solution to the obesity epidemic and that comprehensive approaches addressing root causes are necessary.

Doctor discusses who could benefit from Trump's deal on weight loss drugs

At the White House today, President Donald Trump announced a deal to make weight loss drugs more affordable. Trump says drug makers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk agreed to lower the price of their popular GLP-1 drugs, and the president claims those eligible could see the price drop by more than $1,000 a month. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are a committee to offer Zepp bound and Wegovy at most favored nations rates for American patients. This will slash the cost of Wegovy from $1,350 a month to ultimately $250 a month. Let's bring in CBS News medical contributor, Dr. Celine Gounder. Dr. Gounder, thank you so much for being with us. America's appetite for these weight loss drugs is growing and fast. We know obesity is still an epidemic in this country. Do you think making these drugs more affordable is going to have a big impact on the health of millions of Americans? I think it's important to point out that these medications are not going to be made available to anybody who wants them, who is on Medicare or Medicaid, and being obese in and of itself or being overweight in and of itself will not be a indication for having access to these drugs at a reduced rate. They're really focusing the access and the more affordable pricing on people who are at high risk for complications of being obese, people who are at high risk of heart disease, of stroke, of kidney failure, and other such complications. So it's not still going to be as easily accessible and as cheap as many people would want, particularly when you consider that at least 40% of the American population, if not more, depending on what definition you use, is obese. Yeah, that's a really great point. I want to get to that in a moment, but I want to mention that it's not just weight loss, that there are other benefits from using these drugs, including reduced risk of certain cancers and even improved cognitive function. Right now, a patient, as you mentioned, has to qualify for these drugs. They need to have, as you said, certain health conditions and a high BMI. But given the other health benefits, do you think that these drugs are going to eventually be available to more people? Well, we don't know yet because these drugs have really been studied in people who have not only obesity, but also other medical conditions. And so that data on preventing cancers, on preventing other medical conditions, is really focused on experience with that patient population. So we really need to have more data on looking at people who are overweight or obese but do not have those other conditions. Do you still see a protective effect against cancer, against cognitive decline, against sleep apnea, you name it, in terms of the list of other conditions that these medications appear to prevent? Will that work for a broader proportion of the population? We just don't know yet. There are also a lot of compound versions of these weight loss drugs now in the market. They were largely created because as a less expensive alternative to the name brands. Now that the name brands are more affordable for certain patients, do you think these alternative drugs will simply go away? Well, the reason those compounded drugs were legal, at least for a period of time, is because there was a shortage of the drugs like Wigovi and Ozempic and ZepBound. Once that shortage ended and was declared over by the FDA, that loophole that allowed these compounding pharmacies to operate closed. And so now they are operating illegally, essentially. And you have companies like Novo and Lilly that are now suing and going after the compounding pharmacies because they are replicating, and it should be clear, not precise replication of their name brand medications. There are some issues with safety and efficacy on top of the fact that they are trying to replicate a branded, patented drug. And so there is a legal issue there as well. As a doctor though, are you confident in the efficacy of these drugs? Do you think that they're the future of medicine in many ways? Well, look, we have an obesity problem, as you said at the top, and that is not going to be solved by these medications alone. People in public health have been saying for decades now, we really need a solution that addresses root causes, not just the problem once we have it. And so I think, yes, these GLP-1 weight loss drugs will be part of the package, the solution. But in and of themselves, they are not the silver bullet. And we will need other solutions as well. Dr. Celine Gounder, thank you so much.

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