{"id":695547,"date":"2026-01-14T14:25:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/695547\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T14:25:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:25:19","slug":"indiana-patients-discuss-the-growing-popularity-and-price-of-glp-1-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/695547\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana patients discuss the growing popularity and price of GLP-1 drugs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 For many people, a new year means making resolutions, including losing weight.<\/p>\n<p>One in eight adults says they\u2019ve tried a GLP-1 at some point, according to <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/public-opinion\/poll-1-in-8-adults-say-they-are-currently-taking-a-glp-1-drug-for-weight-loss-diabetes-or-another-condition-even-as-half-say-the-drugs-are-difficult-to-afford\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">health policy research organization KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>GLP-1s are a class of medications, often injectables, first introduced in 2005 to treat diabetes.<\/p>\n<p>            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768400716_307_.png\" alt=\"GLP1s.png\"  width=\"1280\" height=\"609\"\/><\/p>\n<p>WRTV<\/p>\n<p>        GLP-1 medications<\/p>\n<p>They are now used for weight loss and to manage diabetes, heart disease, and other conditions.<\/p>\n<p><b>In a week-long series, WRTV Investigates is digging into the benefits and costs associated with these medications.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Patients can pay more than $1,300 a month for GLP-1 drugs, before insurance, rebates or coupons.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/public-opinion\/kff-health-tracking-poll-prescription-drug-costs-views-on-trump-administration-actions-and-glp-1-use\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A new poll from KFF<\/a> found more than half (56%) of GLP-1 users say the drugs are difficult to afford, including one in four who say they are \u201cvery difficult\u201d to pay for.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, users cite cost as one of the top reasons why they stop taking the medication.<\/p>\n<p>Sue Seyfert lives in Dana, Indiana.<\/p>\n<p>She considers herself lucky to get her Ozempic at no cost to her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI go through the VA because my husband is a veteran, and God bless them, I don\u2019t have to pay anything,\u201d said Seyfert.<\/p>\n<p>Sue says taking Ozempic is not about dropping pounds.<\/p>\n<p>She has Type 1 diabetes and uses GLP-1s to help regulate her blood sugar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would be a game changer for me,\u201d said Sue. \u201cIt is all the rage and it is kind of crazy. So many people are on it to lose weight.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768400717_376_.jpeg\" alt=\"SueSeyfert.jpg\"  width=\"1080\" height=\"1440\"\/><\/p>\n<p>WRTV<\/p>\n<p>        Sue Seyfert of Dana, Indiana takes Ozempic for her diabetes.<\/p>\n<p>Sue said the drug&#8217;s popularity has made it difficult to find at times.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only time I didn\u2019t really like when people were taking it to lose weight is when I couldn\u2019t get it and I\u2019m the one that needed it,\u201d said Sue.<\/p>\n<p>The popularity of GLP-1s is surging.<\/p>\n<p>A new Gallup survey found 12% of Americans reported taking GLP-1s specifically to lose weight, double the number from February 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The obesity rate dropped to 37% of U.S. adults in 2025, down from a high of 40% three years ago, according to the survey.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Walmart and Costco recently announced new discounted pricing for GLP-1s, and the Trump administration introduced a deal with drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to lower prices and expand coverage for their GLP-1 medications Zepbound and Wegovy, widely used for weight loss.<\/p>\n<p><b>RELATED | <\/b><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scrippsnews.com\/politics\/health-care\/trump-announces-effort-to-lower-cost-and-expand-coverage-for-weight-loss-drugs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trump announces deal to cut price of popular weight loss drugs<\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>\u201cIncredibly effective\u201d: Butler University pharmacy professor explains<\/b><\/p>\n<p>GLP-1s have been around for more than 20 years.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first GLP-1, Byetta, in 2005.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ozempic received FDA approval in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t until 2021 and 2023 that the FDA approved Wegovy and Zepbound for weight management.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>Andy Schmelz, an associate professor of pharmacy practice at Butler University, explained how GLP-1s work.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It helps to regulate your appetite,\u201d said Andy Schmelz, an associate professor of pharmacy practice at Butler University. \u201cThese medications actually mimic the same GLP-1 that your body normally makes, which tells your body that you are no longer hungry.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768400719_997_.png\" alt=\"AndySchmelz.png\"  width=\"1280\" height=\"725\"\/><\/p>\n<p>WRTV<\/p>\n<p>        Andrew Schmelz, Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice, at Butler University<\/p>\n<p>While the drugs are expensive, they are also very helpful in treating a number of health conditions, said Schmelz.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese drugs are incredibly effective for weight loss,\u201d said Schmelz. \u201cThey&#8217;re literally the most effective treatment for obesity that we have today.&#8221;<br \/>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><b>Tuesday on WRTV News at 6 pm, WRTV Investigates digs into the side effects related to GLP-1s and lawsuits filed regarding the medications.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 For many people, a new year means making resolutions, including losing weight. One in eight adults&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695548,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4315],"tags":[105,4326,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-695547","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-medication","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115893916674972907","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}