Donald Trump's inner circle is set up for an internal fight over how best to tackle America's obesity epidemic, as previous reports have made clear — and tech billionaire Elon Musk just lobbed a new salvo in the fight, putting him further at odds with Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., The Daily Beast reported.
Specifically, the two sharply disagree over the promotion of Ozempic and related GLP-1 agonist drugs, widely considered to be the most effective weight loss medications ever devised.
Kennedy, an avowed conspiracy theorist on things issues like vaccines and water fluoridation who cultivates a muscular, bodybuilding personal image, has a set idea of how to push people toward what he sees as a "natural" and "healthy" lifestyle, and considers weight loss medication to be contrary to this idea. When he was running for president, noted The Beast, he promised to “restore America as the global example of health & well-being. Not through pills or syringes, but through character and self-discipline.” He has stated in interviews, “The first line of response should be lifestyle” — although he may not be entirely clear that GLP-1 drugs work primarily by encouraging people to eat less, making lifestyle change easier.
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Musk, for his part, embraces the new medical technology — and this week, posted a picture of himself having visibly lost weight in a Santa outfit, with the caption, "Ozempic Santa."
The promotion of these new weight loss drugs has so far not been an issue that divides along party lines; the outgoing Biden administration, too has advocated expanding medical coverage for them, which experts believe could dramatically improve health across the board by reducing a number of illnesses for every organ system in the body that are related to obesity.
Some people remain wary of GLP-1 drugs, criticizing them as a non-permanent solution that doesn't address root causes — although experts have pointed out this is also true of many other classes of drugs that successfully treat chronic conditions.
