Wegovy and other GLP-1s could increase orthopedic surgery use
But a rating agency expects the new weight loss drugs to reduce spending on bariatric surgery.
Wegovy and other GLP-1 agonist obesity-fighting drugs could eventually improve people’s health so much that they will hurt the markets for other types of medical products and services.
But successful weight-loss drugs could increase the number of patients who get orthopedic surgery and some other procedures, according to analysts at Mood’s Investors Service.
Moody’s rates companies’ financial strength.
Analysts talked about the possible health care industry winners and losers in a thinner world in the firm’s latest quarterly health care sector review.
The insurance analysts noted that U.S. insurers are unhappy with their Medicare Advantage plans but did not mention what they think about your employer clients’ group health plans.
The medical devices and products team devoted a third of their update section to the possible impact of Wegovy, Saxenda and Zepbound.
The impact could start by hurting sales of the staplers, shears and other tools that surgeons use to help obese patients with bariatric surgery, the analysts predicted.
Effective weight-loss drugs could also reduce spending on devices used to support people with diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease and sleep apnea, the analysts warned.
Related: Aetna, other insurers will start covering weight loss drug Wegovy for heart conditions
But the analysts suggested that device sellers could benefit when people with severe obesity lose enough weight to become eligible for orthopedic surgery.
Today, some physicians and health plans resist covering orthopedic surgery for people with a body mass index over 35.