Pharmacotherapy for weight management in the VHA
Open accessAbstract
Weight management medications (WMM) are underutilized as an adjunct to behavioral and lifestyle interventions. In fiscal years 2014-2015, a total of approximately 2500 veterans-a mere 2% of veterans receiving care from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA)-eligible for a WMM received a prescription for one. A State of the Art Conference on Weight Management workgroup, focused on pharmacotherapy, developed evidence-based recommendations and strategies to foster the appropriate use of WMM in the VHA. The workgroup identified patient, prescriber, and health system barriers to and facilitators for prescribing WMM. Barriers included patient and provider concerns about medication safety and efficacy, limited involvement of primary care, restrictive medication criteria for use (CFU), and skepticism among providers regarding the safety and efficacy of WMM and the perception of obesity as a disease. Potential facilitators for removing barriers included patient and provider education about WMM and the health benefits of weight loss, increased engagement of primary care providers in weight management, relaxation of the CFU, and creation of a system to help patients navigate through weight management treatment options. Several research questions were framed with regard to WMM in general, and specifically to the care of obese veterans. While some of the workgroup's conclusions reflect issues specific to the VHA, many are likely to be applicable to other health organizations.
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Only 2% of patients with overweight or obesity in the United States were ever prescribed medications for weight loss.
“it is estimated that only 2% of patients with overweight or obesity in the United States were ever prescribed medications for weight loss (Kyle et al, 2016;Semla et al, 2017;CDC, 2023).”
From Emerging pharmacotherapies for obesity: A systematic review (2025) · cites this paper as Semla et al, 2017
The Background reports low use nationally, but its figure is 1% of obese U.S. individuals filling a weight-management prescription over four years—not 2% of people with overweight or obesity ever being prescribed one. The approximately 2% figure in the Abstract concerns eligible veterans receiving VHA care, not the U.S. population as a whole. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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References 26 · Cited by 28
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [23]23. Greenway FL, Fujioka K, Plodkowski RA, et al. COR-I Study Group. Effect of naltrexone plus bupropion on weight loss in overweight and obese adults (COR-I). Lancet. 2010;376(9741):595-605.
- Authors
- Semla, T. P., Ruser, C., Good, C. B., Yanovski, S. Z., Ames, D., Copeland, L. A., Billington, C., Ferguson, U. I., Aronne, L. J., Wadden, T. A., Garvey, W. T., Apovian, C. M., & Atkins, D.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Yale University (US)
- United States Department of Veterans Affairs (US)
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System (US)
- Minneapolis VA Medical Center (US)
- VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System (US)
- Weill Cornell Medicine (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham (US)
- Boston University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Semla, Todd P.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of General Internal Medicine
- Published
- 2017-03-07
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- S1
- Pages
- 70-73
- ISSN
- 0884-8734 (ISSN-L)
- 1525-1497
- PMC
- PMC5359152
- OpenAlex
- W2592439277
- Cited by
- 28
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 4
- FWCI
- 1.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of General Internal Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- Eli Lilly and Company
- Pfizer
- AstraZeneca
- Sanofi
- Alexion Pharmaceuticals
- Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Foundation
- Health Services Research and Development
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A.
- Zafgen
- Eisai
- Novo Nordisk
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (P30DK079626)
- Ethicon Endo-Surgery
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Pharmacology and Obesity Treatment
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Obesity and Health Practices
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Keywords
- obesity, veterans, Veterans Health Administration, pharmacotherapy, barriers to prescribing, drug safety, primary care engagement, evidence-based recommendations, patient and provider education
- MeSH terms
- Obesity Management, Congresses as Topic, Drug Utilization, Humans, Obesity, United States, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Anti-Obesity Agents, Veterans Health
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