Joanna Bailey, a family physician and obesity specialist, doesn’t want to tell her patients that they can’t take Wegovy, but she has gotten used to it.
Around a quarter of the people she sees in her small clinic in Wyoming County would benefit from the weight-loss medications known as GLP-1s, which also include Ozempic, Zepbound and Mounjaro, she says.
The drugs have helped some of them lose 15 to 20 percent of their weight.
But most people in the area she serves don’t have insurance that covers the cost, and virtually no one can afford sticker prices of $1,000 to $1,400 a month.
“Even my richest patients can’t afford it,” Dr. Bailey said.
Persons:
Joanna Bailey, ” Dr, Bailey
Organizations:
West Virginia —, West Virginia’s Public Employees Insurance Agency
Locations:
Wyoming, West Virginia