The major pharmaceutical companies in the world are funding a group that is responsible for the modern trend of “health at every size,” making record profits from the most recent generation of obesity medications.
A new record and database released by Baron Public Affairs last quarter detail medical sponsorships for trade associations that promote obesity as a serious illness that warrants medical care coverage rather than as a treatable symptom of underlying physiological dysfunction. The Obesity Action Coalition ( OAC ), an organization at the heart of the far-left movement for “body positivity,” is one such group that receives funding from major drug manufacturers like Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, and Boehringer Ingelheim.
According to the collection released by Baron Public Affairs, OAC has received contributions from at least six medical companies in 2022, including Amgen, Biohaven, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Pfizer. Novo Nordisk, the producer of the Ozempics, has provided the most significant sponsorships, with an unnamed contribution of more than$ 100 000. Pfizer apparently gave$ 100, 000, while Eli Lilly, the company of Zepbound, and Boehringer Ingelheim, a business with its own pounds- loss drug in development, each gave between$ 50, 000 and$ 100, 000.
With a combined market cap of more than$ 1 trillion, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are the two largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Pfizer and Amgen are the 9th and 10th largest pharmaceutical companies, both.
Additional sponsors listed on the OAC site include the American Society for Metabolic &, Bariatric Surgery, Regeneron, and The Obesity Society. According to the document from Baron Public Affairs, 35 percent, or around a third of OAC’s incomes, have come from the medical sector.
OAC and Body Positivity
A nonprofit organization dedicated to destigmatizing fat on behalf of the pharmaceutical sector is similar to Big Tobacco funding a top party to destigmatize smoking. According to the Centers for Disease Control ( CDC ), nearly 74 percent of American adults over the age of 20 are either overweight or obese. As a result, the grassroots movement has used OAC as the primary vehicle to promote obesity as the new norm. According to a brochure on the OAC webpage,” To combat the issue of discrimination against people who are obese, transforming cultural attitudes, and passing laws prohibiting bias based on weight are necessary.”
The OAC was founded in 2005″ with the intention of making necessary changes for those who are living with and/or have an obesity disorder.” Almost 20 years later, the partnership operates now with business funding plus charges from more than 80, 000 people.
The “action” demanded by the OAC includes the “elimination of fat discrimination in our culture and rules” based on the “belief” that fat is a matter of “disease” out of people ‘ power rather than one of personal accountability. The party’s” Stop Weight Bias Campaign” has its own site and is sponsored by Eli Lilly and WeightWatchers, the tradition bodyweight- loss company then prescribing members the GLP- 1 agonists produced by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
Next year, the OAC held a panel at the team’s online agreement on” Body Positivity” to “unpack common cultural views around weight discrimination and eating society”. We need to advertise size acceptance and reduce the social obsession with anorexia, according to the OAC’s advocacy speech on” Size Acceptance and Body Positivity.” According to the statement, obesity is a” chronic disease” that cannot be “diagnosed by body mass index ( BMI ) or body size.”
” We need to alter perceptions of brain size and ending mass discrimination, stigma and discrimination”, the statement reads.
The Obesity Society ( TOS ) and the Obesity Medicine Association ( OMA ), both of which have received funding from the pharmaceutical industry, are also published by the OAC. The recommendations advise writers to promote variety and steer clear of” an unneeded or twisted focus on body weight.”
” Descriptions of a person’s body weight does not reflect negative beliefs about his or her character, intelligence, powers, or lifestyle practices”, the rules study. Journalists are advised to” consider carefully whether terminology and language used to describe body weight may offend those with obesity” and to steer clear of the terms “fat” or” severely obese”
Long before pharmaceutical companies started operating in this field, OAC’s focus on the needs and interests of people living with the disease “has existed,” according to OAC Spokeswoman Kendall Griffey. Our top priority continues to be addressing weight prejudice and stigma. Whether or not people with obesity choose to seek medical care, stigma and bias have an impact. OAC has always believed that people are prevented from seeking and getting help by stigma and bias.
The Dark Side of’ Miracle’ Drugs
Pharmaceutical companies operating in a$ 4.5 trillion health care sector have an obvious incentive to sell supposedly “game-changer” weight-loss medications to a chronically overweight population that is fighting a losing battle against obesity. Patients desperate to lose weight have long been averse to government guidelines on optimal nutrition, but the medications themselves, which were prescribed to treat a preventable condition that already has a cure, come with their own long list of complications. The medications developed to treat people with type 2 diabetes do not come without risks.
Common side effects of the medications include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Some users have reported more severe digestive conditions, including pancreatitis and stomach paralysis, and these conditions have recently sparked a lawsuit against Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
Consumers of the popular weight- loss medications have also reported a decreased desire to smoke, consume alcohol, or engage in sex, while experiencing increased levels of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. The decreased cravings are a result of the medications ‘ suppression of dopamine, which is the brain’s search for reward. The drugs ‘ myriad psychological impacts, however, remain underexplored, and according to The New York Times, researchers are n’t even sure exactly how the medications work to help people lose weight. Given that the medications have only recently been off-label prescribed to combat obesity, their long-term effects on treating the issue also remain a mystery.
If prescribed for another medical condition, the majority of health insurance plans will cover the medication, but not just for weight loss. In order to lower the risk of cardiovascular death in people who are overweight or obese, the Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) expanded approval for Wegovy ( manufactured by Novo Nordisk ) in March. NPR reported that FDA approval made it possible for Medicare Part D enrollees to request coverage for one of the “new blockbuster weight-loss drugs” being” for the first time.”
Novo Nordisk’s Politician Lobbyists
Since the most recent class of weight-loss medications hit the market, Medicare coverage has remained a goal for pharmaceutical companies. In an effort to expand their clientele base with government-subsidized care, the companies appear to have enlisted prominent politicians. According to public lobbying records, former New Jersey Gov. Prior to the FDA’s approval of Wegovy for weight management in patients who have at least one other weight-related condition, Chris Christie spearheaded the campaign on behalf of Novo Nordisk in the years 2020 and 2021. Christie’s firm, Christie 55 Solutions, received$ 120, 000 from the pharmaceutical giant in 2020 and$ 40, 000 in 2021.
The former governor’s work is described as dealing with “regulation with respect to coverage of drug categories in Medicare Part D,” according to Christie’s firm’s repeated inquiries.
Other politicians who worked for Novo Nordisk include former Wisconsin representative Ron Kind, a Democrat from 1997 to 2023, and former Oregon representative Kurt Schrader, a Democrat from 2009 to 2023, according to the government transparency website OpenSecrets. Kind was paid$ 80, 000 by the company in 2024 and Schrader made$ 60, 000. Earl Pomeroy, a Democrat who represented North Dakota’s at- large district from 1993 to 2011, also made$ 240, 000 lobbying for Novo Nordisk in 2019 and$ 40, 000 in 2020. Former Rep. Jim Davis, a Democrat from Florida in the House from 1997 to 2007, is also listed on OpenSecrets as a lobbyist for Novo Nordisk who made$ 200, 000 in 2022.
