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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/22\/well\/ozempic-glp1-medical-reason.html?emc=edit_na_20260923&nl=breaking-news&segment_id=226921",
    "parsed_content": "AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTGLP-1 Prescriptions for People With No Medical Need Are ClimbingA new study identified more than 1 million people taking weight-loss drugs without any apparent medical reason to do so.Listen \u00b7 5:05 min Share full articleCredit...Alexandr Kolesnikov\/Getty ImagesBy Dani BlumSept. 22, 2026A large new study confirms what many people have long suspected: A sizable number of people taking drugs like Ozempic have no medical reason to do so.The study, an analysis of the medical records of more than 92 million U.S. adults, identified more than 1.1 million who were taking GLP-1 medications, without any record of an issue that would make them eligible, like obesity or diabetes. While the researchers didn\u2019t examine why people took these medications, doctors said many people are probably using them simply to shed some pounds or in the hope they might deliver other, buzzy potential benefits.\u201cYou see it all over the place. You have people describing publicly their experience with these medications, some good, some bad,\u201d Dr. Babak Orandi, an obesity medicine specialist and transplant surgeon at N.Y.U. Langone Health, and the lead author of the study, published Tuesday in the journal Obesity.The positive anecdotes, he said, \u201cmay open up people\u2019s curiosity to say, \u2018Hey, maybe that could work for me.\u2019\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTTechnically, GLP-1s have only been approved for a few conditions, including obesity and diabetes. The Food and Drug Administration has also approved some GLP-1s to prevent heart attacks and other cardiovascular issues and to treat sleep apnea, both in people with obesity, and to treat kidney disease in those with type 2 diabetes.More on Eating DisordersAge of Ozempic: The \u201cfat activist\u201d Virginia Sole-Smith is inspiring and infuriating her followers, and calling out the bias and discrimination faced by people in bigger bodies, especially from doctors and research scientists.Adolescent Boys: For the longest time, researchers focused on diagnosing and treating girls with eating disorders, but that is changing. Two experts share why increasingly boys have these disorders too.A Bigger Concern: TikTok shut down the \u201clegging legs\u201d hashtag, but experts said they\u2019re more worried about other content\u00a0surfaced by social media algorithms.Palliative Psychiatry: Treatment wasn\u2019t helping her anorexia, so doctors allowed her to stop \u2014 no matter the consequences. But is a \u201cpalliative\u201d approach to mental illness really ethical?But the drugs have become a cultural phenomenon, with the public discourse about them and the aggressive marketing of the medications generating far broader interest.\u201cIt\u2019s the first time that I can recall that the general public knows so much\u201d about a drug, said Dr. Nils Kr\u00fcger, a researcher at Harvard Medical School who has studied GLP-1s.These \u201coff-label\u201d prescriptions, as doctors call them, became far more common as the study went on, jumping 15-fold between 2021 and 2025. And researchers say those findings are almost certainly an undercount, since they may not capture people who are accessing the drugs through telehealth platforms or taking compounded versions.Shedding some weight is perhaps the most obvious reason people without obesity or diabetes might turn to the drugs. More than one in three of those taking a GLP-1 drug off label had a normal body mass index. Patients taking the drugs off label were also much more likely to have had a documented eating disorder than those who were not taking one of these medications. While the number of patients with eating disorders was still a small fraction of patients, doctors said it was still cause for concern.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTBeyond weight loss, there are a host of other reasons people may be seeking out these drugs, outside experts said. For example, the study found that patients taking a GLP-1 drug off label were more likely to have high blood pressure or high cholesterol.People might think, \u201c\u2018Oh, it\u2019s being used for vanity purposes,\u2019\u201d Dr. Orandi said. But he said that he has talked with patients who are interested in whether the drugs might help for other issues that aren\u2019t included on their labels. Scientists are in the early stages of studying the drugs for other possible uses, including improving fertility, curbing cravings for alcohol and alleviating brain fog. While researchers need far more data to determine if the drugs work for these purposes, doctors said they are already seeing patients try them, in the hope that they will.Dr. Andrew Kraftson, a clinical professor at the University of Michigan Medical School who treats patients with obesity, noted that the new study also highlight how many doctors seem to be prescribing these drugs to patients who do not appear to qualify for them.Busy primary care doctors whose patients request the drugs may think, \u201cWell, what can it hurt,\u201d he said.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cBut still,\u201d Dr. Kraftson added, \u201cwe totally are not giving comprehensive care in these situations,\u201d Dr. Kraftson expressed concern that some doctors may not fully be assessing whether a patient could benefit from the medication, and whether any potential benefits outweigh the possible risks.There is little data on how the drugs might affect people without obesity or diabetes, because they were largely excluded from major clinical trials.These medications might pose unique risks to people who are not overweight, Dr. Kr\u00fcger said. Those risks include malnutrition, as well as muscle mass loss, side effects of the drug that can affect anyone but that could be especially concerning in people with lower starting B.M.I.s.\u201cWe don\u2019t know how this will play out,\u201d Dr. Kr\u00fcger said. \u201cIt\u2019s like this big Ozempic experiment.\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
    "published_at": "2026-09-22T17:02:13+00:00",
    "author_name": "Dani Blum",
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    "section": "Well",
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    "ai_headline": "GLP-1 Prescriptions for People With No Medical Need Are Climbing",
    "ai_simplified_title": "Study Finds Over 1 Million Taking GLP-1 Drugs Without Medical Need",
    "ai_excerpt": "A new study analyzing over 92 million U.S. adult medical records found more than 1.1 million people taking GLP-1 medications without an apparent medical reason like obesity or diabetes. Doctors express concern over off-label use, potential risks, and the cultural phenomenon surrounding these drugs.",
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