Title: Eli Lilly’s Launch of Obesity Drug Website Raises Concerns About Direct-to-Consumer Model
The co-founder and CEO of Beachbody, Carl Daikeler, recently discussed the impact of the growing popularity of weight loss drugs on online fitness subscriptions. The focus was on pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, which launched the website LillyDirect to connect patients with obesity drugs like Zepbound and Mounjaro.
LillyDirect is designed to provide simple, direct options for independent online and in-person care services, connecting patients with doctors remotely through telehealth services. This announcement has raised concerns among medical professionals, with the American College of Physicians expressing worries about the direct-to-consumer approach primarily oriented around the use of telehealth services to prescribe a drugmaker’s products.
While Eli Lilly has emphasized that doctors who find patients on LillyDirect are not required to prescribe any drugs and are not affiliated with the company, experts have raised concerns about the prescription of drugs without an in-person visit. Some have criticized the direct-to-consumer advertising approach, calling it disingenuous and emphasizing the importance of the patient-physician relationship in providing responsible care.
In response to these concerns, Eli Lilly has stated that its drugs, meant for obesity, should not be used for “cosmetic weight loss,” and the company emphasized that the DTC model is ideal for obesity medications and drives uptake while lowering barriers to new patient starts for Zepbound.
The launch of LillyDirect comes at a time when other companies in the weight loss industry, such as WW International and Ro, have also engaged in similar telehealth efforts to connect people with weight-loss drugs. As the debate over direct-to-consumer models for obesity medications continues, the medical community and regulatory authorities will be closely monitoring the impact of these initiatives on patient care and healthcare practices.