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WeightWatchers and Noom to offer prescription weight loss drugs

kshama2001
kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
in Debate Club
I heard this story last night and found the controversy interesting:

https://www.npr.org/2023/07/24/1189831416/weightwatchers-and-noom-to-offer-prescription-weight-loss-drugs

"...SUMMERS: Yeah. I mean, Maria, for any of us who have struggled with our own weight and turned to places like WeightWatchers or Noom for help and support, this kind of feels like a big about-face. This is diametrically opposed to what places like WeightWatchers have told their clients for years now about how to sustainably and effectively lose weight. In your conversations, is that something that WeightWatchers' leadership is thinking about?

ASPAN: Yeah, it is. And I would agree. You know, these - WeightWatchers, again, has been around for 60 years, basically telling us all, well, you just have to do the work. And now executives say, the CEO says, well, you know, the science has evolved and so we are, too. I think they're trying to thread the needle of showing that their old way is still useful while accepting that there are these new technologies, new medications out there that are just fundamentally more effective than their core product has been shown to be.

******************

And then there was the Fat Acceptance part which you will have to click to read :lol:

Replies

  • herblovinmom
    herblovinmom Posts: 441 Member
    I just finished a 3 month Noom course a month or so ago and they never once offered or recommended any drugs, I’m not sure what the company is doing to incorporate this new fad into its curriculum as I havnt experienced any endorsement of drugs as a Noomer not recently nor many yrs ago when I did my first Noom course. The article also didn’t specify. Are they just going to offer prescriptions like other weight loss clinics? Are they sharing advertisements? Not that I’m interested in the products but the article didn’t give me any thing of value to go off of.
  • beagletracks
    beagletracks Posts: 6,034 Member
    herblovinmom wrote: »
    I just finished a 3 month Noom course a month or so ago and they never once offered or recommended any drugs, I’m not sure what the company is doing to incorporate this new fad into its curriculum as I havnt experienced any endorsement of drugs as a Noomer not recently nor many yrs ago when I did my first Noom course. The article also didn’t specify. Are they just going to offer prescriptions like other weight loss clinics? Are they sharing advertisements? Not that I’m interested in the products but the article didn’t give me any thing of value to go off of.

    @herblovinmom — This is on the Noom website: https://www.noom.com/med/
  • queenofcalories
    queenofcalories Posts: 4 Member
    katycamel01 wrote: »
    Just ended my WW membership and returned to My Fitness Pal today for this very reason…
    katycamel01 wrote: »
    Just ended my WW membership and returned to My Fitness Pal today for this very reason…
    katycamel01 wrote: »
    Just ended my WW membership and returned to My Fitness Pal today for this very reason…
    katycamel01 wrote: »
    Just ended my WW membership and returned to My Fitness Pal today for this very reason…
    katycamel01 wrote: »
    Just ended my WW membership and returned to My Fitness Pal today for this very reason…

    katycamel01 wrote: »
    Just ended my WW membership and returned to My Fitness Pal today for this very reason…

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    beagletracks wrote: »
    herblovinmom wrote: »
    I just finished a 3 month Noom course a month or so ago and they never once offered or recommended any drugs, I’m not sure what the company is doing to incorporate this new fad into its curriculum as I havnt experienced any endorsement of drugs as a Noomer not recently nor many yrs ago when I did my first Noom course. The article also didn’t specify. Are they just going to offer prescriptions like other weight loss clinics? Are they sharing advertisements? Not that I’m interested in the products but the article didn’t give me any thing of value to go off of.

    @herblovinmom — This is on the Noom website: https://www.noom.com/med/

    "Some people, no matter how healthy they eat or how much they exercise, hit a plateau."

    :o
  • beagletracks
    beagletracks Posts: 6,034 Member
    @sollyn23l2 — It sounds like a really expensive way for those whose insurance doesn’t cover the drugs and/or whose doctors won’t prescribe them to get them another way (for now, anyway). Noom says insurance currently won’t cover meds through them. Lots of money to be made by pharmaceutical companies, Weight Watchers, and Noom. With these endorsements and methods to access, use is going to skyrocket. Maybe there will be lots of healthy, happy people. Ben and Jerry’s will go out of business. The fried cheese industry will go belly-up.
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,788 Member
    beagletracks wrote: »
    @sollyn23l2 — It sounds like a really expensive way for those whose insurance doesn’t cover the drugs and/or whose doctors won’t prescribe them to get them another way (for now, anyway). Noom says insurance currently won’t cover meds through them. Lots of money to be made by pharmaceutical companies, Weight Watchers, and Noom. With these endorsements and methods to access, use is going to skyrocket. Maybe there will be lots of healthy, happy people. Ben and Jerry’s will go out of business. The fried cheese industry will go belly-up.

    🤣😂 but think of the family of the fried cheese company's CEO. They need the life to which they've become accustomed! Think of the children!!!!
  • herblovinmom
    herblovinmom Posts: 441 Member
    Wow. Thanks for the informative links guys. I can say Noom did help me make lifestyle changes through the psychological approach they offer. I can see how combining this approach with medication would be beneficial for those in need but also kind of maybe unneeded. I was able to do the program without weight loss meds and I’ve actually gotten off some other meds since making healthier choices..but to each there own. I was offered wegovy by my endocrinologist and I declined. I hope others find the results they are looking for. I sure did 😉
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,788 Member
    herblovinmom wrote: »
    Wow. Thanks for the informative links guys. I can say Noom did help me make lifestyle changes through the psychological approach they offer. I can see how combining this approach with medication would be beneficial for those in need but also kind of maybe unneeded. I was able to do the program without weight loss meds and I’ve actually gotten off some other meds since making healthier choices..but to each there own. I was offered wegovy by my endocrinologist and I declined. I hope others find the results they are looking for. I sure did 😉

    Absolutely! And I'm definitely not against the use of weight loss drugs for people when it's appropriate... I just don't know if a massive diet company is the right place for that.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited July 2023
    beagletracks wrote: »
    @sollyn23l2 — It sounds like a really expensive way for those whose insurance doesn’t cover the drugs and/or whose doctors won’t prescribe them to get them another way (for now, anyway). Noom says insurance currently won’t cover meds through them. Lots of money to be made by pharmaceutical companies, Weight Watchers, and Noom. With these endorsements and methods to access, use is going to skyrocket. Maybe there will be lots of healthy, happy people. Ben and Jerry’s will go out of business. The fried cheese industry will go belly-up.

    This reminds me when Phen/Fen first became a thing in the 90s. I went to a diet clinic place, listened to a pitch with a bunch of other people, and was sold. The clinic would not run it through insurance either. So I went to my doctor and got a prescription through him and my insurance company.

    Oh, I loved Phen/Fen so much...too bad about those pesky heart side effects :disappointed:
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,312 Member
    edited August 2023
    Well I am hoping that the new drugs won't cut down on single serve and lower calorie food development--I'm waiting/cringing for the environmental/packaging impact to hit and increase the prices even more because virtuous food should cost more--of course!

    And I'm also waiting for everyone else to try out these drugs for long enough that we all have a better picture of their long term side effects... before signing on to them---if I'm still around by the time the full picture emerges in xx years! :wink:

    Life is an exercise in balancing. I prefer not to label things as to their virtue--just results baby!

    But results include both the positive and the negative!

    Kojac rice vs wegovy... sign me up when I'm convinced both are equally safe and palatable! :wink: :sweat_smile: In the meanwhile I get to bide my time while mixing some cauliflower rice with konjac sticky rice: some calories, some volume, some nutrition, and--in my case at least--no negative side effects other than to my pocket book! But hey, the drugs are not free either!
  • cszulc
    cszulc Posts: 39 Member
    Unfortunate that a lot of people just turn to medication to solve a problem. Then it creates another problem and the cycle continues. While it does have it place, these companies are taking advantage.

    The newer app mail order pharmacies make a lot of $$$. They don't offer insurance so their processing costs are lower. Their doctors ask leading questions so it's hard NOT to get a prescription through them. Really sad.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,029 Member
    cszulc wrote: »
    Unfortunate that a lot of people just turn to medication to solve a problem. Then it creates another problem and the cycle continues. While it does have it place, these companies are taking advantage.

    The newer app mail order pharmacies make a lot of $$$. They don't offer insurance so their processing costs are lower. Their doctors ask leading questions so it's hard NOT to get a prescription through them. Really sad.
    It's why 70% of the US population is overweight or obese and having health issues. Now there are legitimate reasons for drugs if NEEDED because it can't be rectified through just lifestyle change. But that's not the reason for a lot of the drugs today. Heart medication, cholesterol, weight loss, blood thinners, etc. are the defacto for people who need to improve their health but won't do what's necessary to help prevent it in the first place.


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