Matter of Fat

 The new weight loss drug Mounjaro has captured the market with unexpected speed, zooming to be the second-most selling medicine for September in India. Launched in March, Mounjaro sold `56 crore in August; the next month, it was ` 80 crore, trailing only slightly behind Augmentin, an antibiotic. It is a medicine first made for diabetics to keep sugar levels under control by suppressing hormones that regulate hunger. Diabetes and obesity are connected, but the latter is a bigger market. Mounjaro, and other drugs of its class, found themselves on a gold mine once regulators permitted them for obesity. When a drug becomes so widely popular—and it is not just in India alone—it means more than people with urgent medical necessity are using it.

Anyone who is slightly overweight and taking it for aesthetic ends because going on a diet or working out is difficult, does not really cause damage to them­selves. It is probably a less significant decision than those who opt for cosmetic surgeries to look better or to grow hair. And yet, just as with those surgeries, there is no such thing as a magic bullet. The injections have to be taken constantly every week. Studies show that stopping it can lead to some of the weight returning over time. And in a country like India, where such a medicine is available with just a prescription, it is easy to envision how doctors will be trigger-happy. Like how psychiatrists overprescribe antidepressants, medicines like these are going to end up being given by default.

What prevents it in the short run is cost. A monthly bill for four Mounjaro doses runs up to a little over ₹15,000. For a year, that is ₹2 lakh. This is expensive but not prohibitive. For a medical condition, it is warranted. But for a lifestyle choice, it is an indulgence coming out of some other spend. However, with volumes, prices will drop, and usage will fur­ther spread. In a perfect world, Mounjaro would be the first rung of a strategy supplemented by diet and exercise. But when shortcuts are available, that is what will be chosen.