What We’re Reading: Weight Loss Results for Mounjaro; 8-Year Drug Shortage; Bacterial Outbreak Kills 4

Mounjaro Helps Those with T2 Diabetes Lose Weight

Eli Lilly & Co.’s drug tirzepatide (Mounjaro) for type 2 diabetes helped those with the disease who are also overweight or obese lose up to 15.7% of their body weight, in a recent study that could introduce a way for Lilly to promote the drug as a weight-loss medication, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company said that with the data, it will complete an application for the FDA in the coming weeks to market Mounjaro as an anti-obesity drug; an FDA decision could come by the end of 2023. Some people currently use the drug off-label for weight-loss.

Some Vital Drugs Have Been Short for Over 8 Years

At least 20 vital drugs have been intermittently in shortage since 2015, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) database, reported the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. Every drug except 3 are also on the Resilient Drug Supply Project’s (RDSP’s) Critical Acute and COVID-19 Drug List, with the FDA’s drug shortage database including some, but not all, of the drugs as in a shortage. A list of 156 critical acute drugs which, in insufficient quantities, would lead to serious health outcomes like death or the inability to provide humane care, were compiled by a team of RDSP members and various health care experts in 2018.

Four Dead in Bacterial Outbreak in Washington

An outbreak of a bacteria usually found in health care settings that has developed resistance to some antibiotics has been connected to 4 deaths in patients at a downtown Seattle hospital, according to USA Today. The bacteria, called Klebsiella, infected patients who were hospitalized in several departments, including inpatient medical beds, an intensive care unit, and an operating room at Virginia Mason Medical Center, said the hospital. Currently, there are 31 confirmed infections associated with the strain, and the source is still under investigation.