Madden Mischief

Of all President Trumps wheeling and dealing, watching his signing this latest deal with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, I couldn’t help thinking perhaps this gave him the most pleasure.

It reminded me of what a police officer friend once told me that his greatest pleasure came not from arresting people but helping them.

How true!

Even in sexual encounters, many would agree pleasing a loved one can be just as self-gratifying, sometimes maybe even more so for often we love to give more than receive.

Last week the President gave a lot and had noticeable pleasure announcing a deal to drastically lower the price of weight loss drugs for millions of Americans.

“Today, I’m thrilled to announce that the two world’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturers, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, have agreed to offer their most popular GLP-1 weight loss drug — I call it the fat drug, remember (joke) — at drastic discounts,” the president said in the Oval Office.

Mr. Trump has previously floated the possibility of lower prices for weight loss drugs and expressed dismay about the high costs.  “I call it the fat pill or the fat drug,” he said at an event on drug prices in September.

Now Trump got Eli Lilly, the maker of Zepbound, and Novo Nordisk, the company behind Ozempic and Wegovy, to agree to lower the price of their weight loss drugs for eligible patients on Medicare, Medicaid and for eligible users of the planned “TrumpRx” pharmaceutical website.

Sizeable Reduction

The price per month for most eligible people will be $245 to $350 a month on average, administration officials said. The cost now is as high as $1,350 per month.

Mr. Trump said Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk also agreed to provide all their other medications at “most-favored-nation” prices, meaning Americans will pay a competitively low price like the consumers in other countries do.

Deal Details

TrumpRx, which is expected to launch as early as the end of this year, will allow customers to buy prescription drugs directly from pharmaceutical companies without going through insurance.

When purchased through TrumpRx, the cost will be about $350 per month for injections of Ozempic and Wegovy, officials told reporters and that pricing will go into effect in January.

If the Food and Drug Administration later approves similar GLP-1 drugs intended to be taken orally, the initial dose of those pills will be $149 per month through TrumpRx, officials said.

For eligible patients on Medicaid and Medicare, officials said the cost will be $245 for Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound. The Medicare copay is $50.

Administration officials hope the new pricing kicks in for Medicare in mid-2026, likely by July. For Medicaid, the timing will be based on states’ willingness to participate.

Obesity rampant

About 40% of Americans are obese, according to CDC data, though a recent survey suggests the rate has started to decline. Research shows obesity is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in the United States.

So, it’s not about just losing weight, but making America healthy again by preventing strokes and end-stage renal disease.

Reportedly, other prescription drug websites, such as GoodRx, won’t be partnering with TrumpRx and pharmaceutical companies will decide how to fulfill consumers’ orders.

Tom Madden is an author whom you might say is obese, only his obesity bulges with ideas for his blogs, books and press releases so it’s not accumulating body fat, but aptitude muscle.  It was his greatest pleasure to start his own public relations firm, TransMedia Group, when he left NBC, mostly to give his family rewarding, self-fulling jobs helping client’s businesses to flourish from publicity.  Today his daughter Adrienne Mazzone is president of the firm, and he’s the CEO.