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In an announcement that quietly went unnoticed by many Americans, the FDA approved the end of the shortage of tirzepatide, a popular GLP-1 medication that costs less than other drugs that are popular with people looking to lose weight or mitigate the effects of diabetes. The end of the shortage would mean higher drug costs for anyone looking to kick off a few pounds, whether for their health or cosmetic purposes. Sean Spicer, who was President Trump’s first press secretary in 2017, is one of the people who uses tirzepatide to control his wright. He appeared on 710 WOR’s Mendte in the Morning program to discuss an op-ed column he wrote recently for The New York Post, in which he laid out the reasons why the new FDA commissioner ought to consider the benefits of drugs like tirzepatide before they make them harder to get.
Spicer told host Larry Mendte that affordable tirzepatide has a number of benefits to the nation. “If we can keep people healthier longer and avoid things like type 2 diabetes, hip replacements, cardiovascular disease, it actually benefits the government in the long run, because the longer that we can keep people healthy and off of long-term, chronic, systemic disease-type drugs and medications to treat all of the aforementioned things, that’s actually good for the government. So, the government actually should think about this because they have a stake in the long-term viability of us, not just being healthier as individuals, which is a great thing, but also financially. What is about to happen was literally a big kiss to Big Pharma from the Boden administration on the way out the door that they haven’t justified, by the way.”
Spicer added that concerned Americans can make their voices heard in a way that matters: “Today they are voting on the nomination of Dr. Marty Makary as the FDA commissioner. If you are hearing this right now and saying what can I do, call your senator’s office and say hey, will you ask the FDA commissioner to commit to keeping these compounded drugs on the market for at least a little while? Look, I get it, a shortage will stop at some point, but there’s no reason. This was literally a huge payoff to Big Pharma, and we need to get the FDA to at least pause this decision and explain it before you just arbitrarily and capriciously pull it off the market on March 19th.”
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