A medicine that takes away your appetite by making you feel full and a bit nauseous doesn’t sound very attractive, but it is a price many people are ready to pay for the chance to lose weight. Although widely available privately, until this week only doctors in specialist clinics were allowed to prescribe tirzepatide (Mounjaro) to treat obesity on the NHS and it was almost impossible for GPs to get their patients into these clinics. People up and down England will no doubt rejoice at the news that their own doctor can now prescribe it.
Any celebrations may be premature, as the criteria for prescription in the first phase of the rollout are so tightly drawn that few patients will qualify. You need a body mass index (BMI) of more than 40, which corresponds to a weight of 102kg (16st) for a woman of average height or 123kg (more than 19st) for a man. (The BMI criterion is slightly lower if you come from a high-risk group.)
