New Weight Loss Drugs Are Wildly Effective, But They Aren’t Cost Effective

At $200,000 per quality-adjusted life-year saved, Mounjaro doesn’t meet economic criteria for coverage.

Much of my time in these columns is spent writing about whether a drug or supplement or diet or intervention works or not. That’s the central focus of medical science — can we do something for a patient and make a difference in their health? But there’s a related question that we rarely discuss but is almost equally as important. Is this drug or supplement or diet or intervention worth it?

And I don’t mean “worth it” in some meta-physical sense. I mean worth it in terms of dollars and cents. Is the cost we pay for something worth the benefit we derive from it?

I’ll make the argument that the most effective drugs in the past decade are the GLP-1 receptor agonists, drugs like semaglutide (Ozempic) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro). At least in terms of weight loss, they are truly unparalleled. They are clearly effective. But are they worth it? Are they cost-effective? That is a much harder question, and, as you’ll see in a minute, despite their amazing effects — the answer, for now at least, is no.

How do we decide if a drug is cost-effective? What does that even mean? I’ll give you…