Mary Boyer, a 41-year-old tech worker, started taking the drug Mounjaro last October to treat obesity. Mounjaro — like the better-known Ozempic — is one of a new class of diabetes and obesity drugs that work differently from earlier medications in ways that are not yet fully understood. Unlike stimulants, which can be addictive, these drugs may fight addictions and not just those related to food. Discovering how the new weight loss medications alter appetite and the compulsive behavior that can be associated with it could offer new insight into the nature of pleasure and addictions. When drugs can significantly ease weight loss or addiction recovery, it’s hard to argue that the problem is moral rather than medical.

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Persons: Mary Boyer, “ I’m, ”, “, ’ ”, Mounjaro