When you see a person you've not seen for several months, You're probably to ask: "Gee, you look great. Have you lost weight?" The most likely answer is Ozempic Wegovy and Mounjaro. Ozempic, as well as Mounjaro, were designed for treating Type 2 diabetes; Wegovy explicitly intended to be a weight-loss drug, making use of the same semaglutide formulation used in Ozempic.
The Justice Now (Sept 15th): When you see a person you’ve not seen for several months, You’re probably to ask: “Gee, you look great. Have you lost weight?” The most likely answer is Ozempic Wegovy and Mounjaro. Ozempic, as well as Mounjaro, were designed for treating Type 2 diabetes; Wegovy explicitly intended to be a weight-loss drug, making use of the same semaglutide formulation used in Ozempic.
These medicines have been the latest “Botox party” drugs, with celebrities, physicians, and influencers encouraging their usage. Wegovy has been FDA-approved to help lose weight; Ozempic and Mounjaro aren’t. Yet. Should weight loss medications be permitted under the workers’ compensation law If Wegovy has been FDA-cleared for use in weight loss (with the other drugs certainly not too far from the mark)?
The effects of new treatments and medical innovations aren’t new for workers’ compensation systems. However, the introduction of weight loss medications and the potential for their staggering cost ought to cause any employer and company to take note of the issue. The impact of these drugs on workers’ comp plans is mostly unanticipated, as premiums weren’t billed or collected in their place in the past. Many injured workers might seek to profit from them, all at the employer’s cost. It is a problem that no worker’s compensation program has equipped.
Obesity is among the many complications that could hinder the healing process of an injured worker. In all of the United States, workers’ compensation insurance companies have accepted and funded a variety of methods for weight loss. In 2022, for instance, the case of Robin Kluttz-Ellison. Noah’s Playloft Preschool and Erie Ins. Group the Court of Appeals of North Carolina granted bariatric surgery to an injured worker who needed to shed weight for the knee surgery she had to undergo to succeed.
Even Louisiana, the seventh-highest calorie-burning state within the United States — has accepted weight loss programs as part of the workers’ compensation laws. In 1988 1988, the Louisiana Court of Appeals ordered an energy company to cover the costs of a swimming program at an area YMCA for a worker who got injured. Fontenot in v. Citgo Petroleum Corp.Bariatric surgery lap bandages, YMCA Memberships, as diet plans are expensive; however, nothing is comparable with these prescriptions. Are weight loss medications like Wegovy, Ozempic, and Mounjaro coming soon?
The majority of weight loss strategies work when used. When a person ceases to diet or exercising typically regains the weight they shed. The same goes for those who stop taking weight loss medications, who usually gain weight. Wegovy is one of the few weight loss medications approved by the FDA. The drug approved in 2021. Wegovy is an injection every week to aid in long-term weight control. Although this medication was created for chronic weight management, it is possible that a person’s weight may plateau, which would defeat the intent of the drug. With Ozempic, which has lower levels of semaglutide than Wegovy, one is more likely to experience tables. Like other methods for losing weight, the injured person may not be able to meet the goals set for them to resume work.
It is typical across the United States for pharmaceutical companies to pay incentive fees to health professionals to prescribe their medications in the form of meals, entertainment, speeches, and consulting arrangements. Studies have shown that these payments impact healthcare professionals’ decision-making when prescribing drugs to patients. “A systematic review found that financial gains from the pharmaceutical industry are associated with increased prescribing by physicians.
Federal Anti-Kickback Statute applies to financial agreements with health providers who are part of the federal health program (Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP). However, it does not apply to workers’ insurance programs. An excellent resource for determining the value of payments made to every health provider is available here. Employers and carriers have valid reasons to be concerned about promoting weight loss pills to health care professionals.
Another question is whether drugs for weight loss can only be deemed suitable to help with weight loss. As with obesity, another common comorbidity affecting the injured is diabetes. Wegovy, Ozempic, and Mounjaro are all FDA-approved diabetes drugs. If these drugs were workers’ compensation-approved, should they not also be approved if an injured worker’s diabetes was aggravated or accelerated or led to injury? Employers and carriers will reintroduced to the issues of the cost of these drugs.
Although workers’ compensation insurance companies may be reluctant to treat weight loss in their efforts to treat injured workers and restore them to their regular jobs, There is a perfect chance that drugs for weight loss are approved in workers’ compensation cases. Many states have refused to cover chiropractic as a cost covered by claims. Still, many have witnessed benefits to the workers’ compensation cases, and Oklahoma recently enacted legislation in 2020 that will allow chiropractic care under the workers’ compensation laws. Federally, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act does not yet enable chiropractic treatment under certain conditions.
For those medicines that aren’t FDA approved, it is customary to find “off-label” use of medications to be supported by workers’ compensation programs. Employers and insurance companies will have to work to manage the costs of these medicines.
So if your friend confesses that they have lost weight because of Ozempic Wegovy or Mounjaro, inquire whether their workers’ compensation company is paying for it.
