A GP who specialises in obesity has said there is “potentially a very large number of people” who would benefit from free weight loss drugs.
Weight loss drugs have transformed the treatment of obesity in recent years, with millions of people losing weight that years of dieting and exercise failed to shift.
Currently, some 45,000 people are prescribed Ozempic for free on the Long-Term Illness Scheme, with a further 8,000 medical card holders receiving the drug as well.
However, only those being treated for Type 2 diabetes are eligible, but the HSE is considering widening the eligibility criteria.
On Newstalk Breakfast, Irish College of GPs Clinical Lead for Obesity Dr Michael Crotty said there remains a “significant cost” to providing patients with medication to treat obesity.
“The medications are licensed for a body mass index greater than 30 or greater than 27 with a weight-related complication,” he said.
“But really under those criteria, there would be potentially a very large number of people who would be eligible for access to treatment.
“In reality, in other countries, they've taken a phased approach to this, looking at people with more severe obesity and established complications rather than universal reimbursement for everybody for whom the medication's licensed.”
A woman using Ozempic. Picture by: Gavin Rodgers/pixel8000. Dr Crotty continued that while access to the drug is likely to be widened, the HSE is likely to recommend it only for those “in a more restricted group”.
“There's a new concept of pre-obesity when people are living with significant excess weight but haven't developed organ or tissue dysfunction yet,” he added.
“And there's a big vogue treating these things early and more aggressively.
“But I suppose then that needs to be kind of balanced - not everybody living with obesity needs the same treatment.”
Dr Crotty said that while “nobody is debating the potential benefits of these treatments to people's health”, weight loss drugs remain expensive.
“The problem is trying to counterbalance that with the cost of the medication to the exchequer,” he said.
“We live in a world where there's finite resources and they have to be used in the best possible way.”
Main image: A woman's hands holds many Ozempic syringe pen with needle. Picture by: Alamy.com.
