GLP-1 use rose more than 140% from 2022 to 2024 while bariatric surgery volumes fell 34.1%, per new JAMA Surgery article. Classic Demand Elimination — and more than 90% of eligible patients still received neither treatment.

Forty-five of 49 telehealth sites prescribed a GLP-1 to a fake patient based on a web form and an upper-body photo. The prescription requirement doesn’t exist in practice. Given a benign 20-year safety record and a new FDA pathway for OTC drugs that need screening, it may be time to stop pretending otherwise.

Happy to discuss healthcare growth, primary care’s decline, consumer health tech, and self-driving cars with the very well-informed Scott Becker, in this episode of Becker’s Healthcare Podcast.