It’s official – Americans spent the same amount of money on weight loss injections as the country’s entire foreign aid budget in 2023. According to a study by the American Medical Association and the Centers for Disease Control, the figure spent on GLP-1 drugs – so named because they mimic the effects of a naturally occurring hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 to lower blood sugar – hit a staggering $71bn. In the UK, research released in January 2025 and reported by the Telegraph revealed that more than one in 10 women are on the jabs in total, while an estimated 500,000 people are signed up to Mounjaro or Wegovy on a private prescription.
As the takeup of these drugs, acquired via both the NHS and off-label prescriptions, continues on an ever-upward trajectory, more concerns are being raised about potential long-term side effects. A possible link with a deterioration in bone health and skeletal muscle mass has been flagged, with Dr Doug Lucas, a trauma and orthopaedic surgeon and director of education and training for Screen My Bones, calling it potentially “catastrophic” and “frightening”. Meanwhile, a large-scale study found that those taking GLP-1s were nearly 2.5 times more likely to develop drug-induced acute pancreatitis, a serious condition where the pancreas becomes inflamed.
