GLP-1 Experimentation Is Everywhere, and Science Can’t Keep Up
"So much of the experimentation with GLP-1s is happening outside of traditional research models, careful clinical trials and even the health system. Given the immense popularity of these drugs, regulators and the medical establishment need urgently to figure out how to best capture and keep pace with the experiment. Otherwise it risks spinning out of control," writes Julia Belluz, a contributing New York Times Opinion writer.
She adds:
>Times Opinion asked the polling company Morning Consult to survey over 2,000 adults who have used GLP-1s. Before getting the results, I suspected that the reality of taking the drugs would be messier than the triumphalist headlines. The drugs can have unsavory side effects, most frequently nausea. Many people stop taking them because of those side effects and, perhaps even more so, cost and insurance barriers.
But the survey respondents were enthusiastic. Sixty-five percent of current or past GLP-1 users said they were “very interested” in continuing to take the drugs. More remarkably, 63 percent said that if their GLP-1 failed to help the condition it was initially prescribed to treat, they would either “definitely” or “probably” keep taking it for other benefits.
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