US psychiatrists prescribe Wegovy to battle medication-induced weight gain

FILE PHOTO: A selection of injector pens for the Wegovy weight loss drug are shown in this photo illustration in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska/Illustration/File Photo

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. psychiatrists are increasingly prescribing the popular weight-loss drug Wegovy to patients who gain weight from medicines used to treat mental disorders, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, according to Reuters interviews with ten prescribers across the country. Many antipsychotic drugs and mood stabilizers can cause patients to gain significant weight and contribute to diabetes and heart disease, the leading cause of death among adults with schizophrenia.

Complicated by other factors such as inadequate access to healthy food and lower physical activity, over half of patients with bipolar depression and schizophrenia are overweight or obese. Novo Nordisk's Wegovy is self-injected once a week and has been shown to help patients lose around 15% of their body weight, making it the most effective treatment available. "It's been a real welcome addition .... for people who truly have endured significant weight gain because of atypical antipsychotics and have doggedly tried their best to overcome that," said Dr. Joseph Goldberg, a professor of psychiatry at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. Wegovy received U.S. approval as an obesity treatment in June 2021, while Mounjaro, a similar drug from Eli Lilly, is expected to be authorized this year. New rivals are also in development.