As cost of weight loss drug soars, fears that those who need it most will be left behind

The price of Mounjaro doubles tomorrow but appetite for the injections does not appear to be shrinking

- James Tapper

The first of the new wave of weight-loss drugs was approved for treatment in the UK nearly two decades ago, offering hope to type-2 diabetes patients who needed to lose weight.

"I've been prescribing these drugs since 2007," says Dr Stephen Lawrence, a GP and associate clinical professor in diabetes at the University of Warwick. Initially, clinicians thought that patients would be reluctant to inject themselves. "But what we found was that people said: 'You had me at weight loss'

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists are now household names through their brands Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro, and are being used by more than 1.5 million people in the UK, not just to treat diabetes but also for general weight loss.

They entered public consciousness in 2022, when