“Using GLP-1 drugs for cosmetic weight loss is a misuse of medicine.”

Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy were built to treat diabetes and obesity. Now telehealth companies advertise them to people who aren’t obese, and a Harvard panel published this week asked who these drugs are really for. Some doctors say a few pounds of weight loss is not a good enough reason to take a drug that many people need to stay on for life and that can cost $300 to $450 a month without insurance. Others say adults can choose what to do with their own bodies. The fight is over whether using these drugs for looks is a misuse of medicine or a personal choice.

Caroline Apovian, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School (agrees): “If you take a GLP-1 to lose 10 pounds, you don’t have the disease of obesity.” Jada Wiggleton-Little, philosophy professor at The Ohio State University (disagrees): “I believe individuals have the right to do with their bodies as they wish, which includes using whatever weight loss means that they see fit, given that they are well-informed of the associated risks.” Daniel Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University (middle): “My real nightmare about GLP-1s is that we end up in a world where we cease to pay attention to the cause of the problem.”

Caveats: The drugs are not FDA-approved for people without obesity or diabetes, though doctors can prescribe them off-label. Apovian’s quote is about a person who wants to lose 10 pounds, not every case below the obesity line. Lieberman’s quote is about public health and prevention, not cosmetic use, and Wiggleton-Little’s is from a 2025 essay that mainly argues against pressure from doctors. The Bloomberg article is behind a paywall.