Many people using GLP-1s for weight loss stop treatment too soon, research shows, and results are not one-size-fits-all

Demand for Wegovy and other GLP-1 drugs used to treat obesity and diabetes has skyrocketed, but a new report suggests that many people may not be sticking with their weight-loss treatment long enough.

Demand for Wegovy and other GLP-1 drugs used to treat obesity and diabetes has skyrocketed, but a new report suggests that many people may not be sticking with their weight-loss treatment long enough. An analysis of health insurance claims released Tuesday found that most people using GLP-1 medications – about 58% – were on their treatment plan for less than 12 weeks, falling short of a key benchmark in the weight-loss treatment timeline. Professional organizations have set this as a guideline for when to reassess whether a treatment is providing clinically meaningful weight loss. Users start with a low dose of these medications and gradually increase it over time until they reach a targeted dose. But the analysis shows that nearly a third of people – more than 30% – dropped out after the first four weeks of treatment, before reaching the targeted dose. The findings are based on pharmacy and medical claims data for about 170,000 people with insurance coverage under Blue Cross Blue Shield plans who were prescribed GLP-1 medications that were approved to treat weight management between 2014 and 2023. “These are long-term medications to treat a chronic disease,” said Dr. Disha Narang, an endocrinologist and director of obesity medicine at Endeavor Health in Chicago, who was not involved in the new research. “This is absolutely a marathon, not a sprint. And when we do treat this as a sprint, I think patients are likely to get off of medication much faster.” Experts say that impatience with results is one of many reasons patients might stop treatment. Only about two-thirds of adults who have used injectable weight-loss drugs say they feel that they were effective, according to a new KFF poll. And people who stopped using the medications were significantly less optimistic about their benefits: Only about half of those who had used injectable weight-loss drugs in the past said they were effective, compared with nearly three-quarters of those who were actively using the treatments.