Not everyone requires medication to lose weight, but for those who do, it is important to work with someone with the knowledge and expertise to guide them safely. The team at Seger | MD has years of experience when it comes to prescribing these medications as PART of the overall, comprehensive treatment approach.
Having an experienced, knowledgeable provider leading your treatment approach is particularly important with the dramatic increase in interest in medications used to treat overweight and obesity. It seems providers who previously would not even consider prescribing medications or guiding the patient through their weight loss journey are now prescribing medications, including compounded versions of some of these medications.
Liraglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, is branded as Victoza for Diabetes and Saxenda for the treatment of overweight and obesity. Saxenda, a daily subcutaneous injection that was FDA-approved for weight loss in 2014 and studies show that patients typically lose
5-8 % of their starting body weight.
Semaglutide, another GLP-1 receptor agonist, was first approved by the FDA for use in patients with diabetes in 2016 as Ozempic. While given specifically to lower blood sugars and improve diabetes, studies showed significant weight loss of 16-18% of patients’ starting body weight. Because of this, NovoNordisk petitioned the FDA for use in patients WITHOUT diabetes, and in June of 2021, it was approved under the brand name Wegovy for patients with overweight (BMI > 27 with at least one weight-related illness) and obesity (BMI >30). Both Ozempic and Wegovy are once-weekly subcutaneous injections and although they have different names and are packaged a little differently, they are the EXACT same molecule/medication.
The newest version of this class of medications, Mounjaro, was approved for patients with diabetes in June of 2022. It works similarly to Ozempic and Wegovy, but it targets a second gut hormone called GIP and the weight loss achieved was higher at 22% of starting body weight. Mounjaro is currently NOT approved for patients UNLESS they have the diagnosis of diabetes, unfortunately. This is expected to change sometime soon.
Other medications that we use:
The above medications are all oral medications (by mouth), and the cash prices range from about $15-20/month for phentermine to as high as $94-99/month for Qsymia and Contrave. If insurance does cover Anti-Obesity medications, you would simply pay your co-pay, which is commonly about $25/month.
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