Republican Representative David Schweikert has defended his plan to roll out weight loss drug Ozempic across the US, saying that it’s actually about “fat loving”.
Mr Schweikert previously touted Ozempic, a drug used for weight loss, as the key to reducing the US health budget – as well as lowering obesity levels across the country.
Speaking at a presentation for the Four Peaks Young Republicans on 25 September, he doubled down on his theory.
“It’s not fat shaming; it’s actually fat loving,” he said, reportedThe Daily Beast.
“We can love our brothers and sisters back to health.”
Mr Schweikert called for making the drugs, known as GLP-1s, more widely accessible, claiming this will help more people lose weight and, in turn, take pressure off healthcare costs in the US.
“Next year, one of the GLP-1s, the Ozempics, goes off-patent,” Mr Schweikert told the audience.
“The price is gonna crash. What would happen if you took morbidly obese populations on Medicare, Medicaid, Indian Health Services, the VA and gave them access to it?”
GLP-1s are a type of drug typically used to treat type 2 diabetes, but some have also been given FDA approval for chronic weight management.
One of the most famous examples, Ozempic, took off on social media as influencers and celebrities admitted or were rumoured to have taken the drug to keep their weight down.
Some social media influencers swear by the once-a-week injection, despite the various side effects, from nausea and bowel movement issues to more serious health concerns such as thyroid tumours, pancreatitis and gall bladder issues, according to CNN.
It is somewhat unclear what the long-term side effects of Ozempic are for people using the drug solely for weight loss, but Time Magazine reports that the hype around the drug could impact eating disorders across the county.
David Schweikert believes that curving obesity could have a great impact on the government’s debt— (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Despite the growing concerns about the safety implications of the drug, Mr Schweikert said he believes that using GLP-1s to controlling Americans’ weight could have a positive impact on government debt.
“It’s more just the concept, what would happen if the most powerful thing you can do on US debt – because debt’s out of control, we’re borrowing over $75,000 a second – is actually through health?” he told The Daily Beast.
“It picks up productivity,” he said in the presentation. “Populations can participate in the economy.”
The Joint Economic Committee, vice-chaired by Mr Schweikert, projects that spending on obesity between 2024 and 2033 in the US could amount to $4.1trn.
The lawmakers are continuing to research the economic impact of their obesity-cutting proposal, said Mr Schweikert.
However, the Republican lawmaker’s estimate around how much money his proposal could save remains up for debate.
Right now, most private and government insurers do not cover weight loss drugs, which can cost up to $1,000 or more per month per person, according to Scientific American.
The Congressional Budget Office wrote a report which outlined that if Medicare started to cover weight loss medication, it would allegedly increase overall federal spending.
