Take the Drugs or Eat Better Food?

What Happened?

The weight-loss drug, Ozempic could soon be available through Medicare and Medicaid.

The drug, which was initially designed to help with diabetes, has been perhaps the biggest success in the pharmaceutical industry since Viagra — which as it happens, is another drug where its main benefits were discovered by ‘mistake’.

According to the Bloomberg News report, this new initiative would make it accessible to over seven million Americans across Medicare and Medicaid combined.

Great news, right?

Maybe. But it still makes you wonder. While celebrities have fallen over themselves to try Ozempic, and have even promoted its use, the same celebrities have criticized Health and Human Services Secretary nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his campaign to get Americans to eat better.

If the choice is to take the drugs, or promote better food, it seems celebrities put their faith in big pharma!

Why it Matters

We guess it’s because most people want a ‘quick fix’.

They want to keep eating the food they think that tastes good — but which also makes them fat and unhealthy — while at the same time take a drug that will offset and eliminate any weight gain.

To us that doesn’t seem like such a good idea.

And yet the mainstream would rather demonize Mr. Kennedy Jr. because part of his remit will be to take on the pharmaceutical-industrial complex, along with the processed-foods-industrial complex.

That goes to show the power of pharma and the food industry. Remember, just because Mr. Kennedy Jr. advocates for better quality food, that doesn’t necessarily mean the farm and food lobbies are on his side.

According to Statista, in 2023 the pharma and healthcare industry spent more than $379 million lobbying Congress. During the same year the farm and agribusiness lobby spent $178 million on lobbying activity.

How it Affects You

We’re sure Ozempic and other weight-loss drugs have been a great help to a great many people.

But we shouldn’t forget these are still relatively new drugs. Already there are stories about how people have fared once they stop taking these drugs — they gain back all the lost weight, and more.

That shouldn’t be a surprise. If taking the drug means you don’t have to change your eating habits, yet you’ll still lose weight, it makes sense to think that will only encourage folks to make even worse health decisions when it comes to food.

Bottom line: given the choice between following the path of big pharma, or following the path of RFK Jr., we’ll take Bobby’s ideas any day of the week.