• District of Columbia: A coalition of organizations has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over recent cuts to the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP). Organizations involved in the lawsuit include Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), Democracy Forward, and the Public Citizen Litigation Group. According to the organizations, HHS published a public policy notice last June that imposed "new substantive conditions" on awardees that were not based on statutory criteria set by Congress. Last month, HHS implemented a new policy that rejected the original TPPP and required the program to incorporate abstinence-only education and align with agency priorities to receive funding. "Terminating the Teen Pregnancy Prevention grants was reckless. It's already hurting young people and disrupting proven programs in communities nationwide," said Callie Simon, SIECUS executive director. "We are fighting back because young people deserve medically accurate, inclusive sex education, not ideological programs that ignore the evidence, violate the law, and put their health and well-being at risk." (Gleeson, Fierce Healthcare, 7/17)
• Illinois/New York: GE HealthCare and Catholic Health have agreed to a 10-year, $500 million strategic partnership for GE to provide the system with advanced imaging, AI, and other technologies. The partnership is expected to add over 1,300 new pieces of technology to more than 40 hospitals and outpatient sites, with around half arriving within the first three years. Several service lines are also expected to be expanded under the partnership, including cardiology, oncology, neurology, and women's health. The partnership also includes delivery, maintenance, education, and training, which will ultimately make it more cost effective for Catholic Health compared to standard equipment purchasing agreements. According to Fierce Healthcare, the partnership with Catholic Health is one of the largest of the kind to date. GE has also struck similar partnerships with several other health systems, including Sutter Health, San Diego Health, Hartford HealthCare, and Duke Health. (Muoio, Fierce Healthcare, 7/16)
• New Jersey: Novo Nordisk has filed a lawsuit against Eli Lilly, alleging that Lilly uses deceptive advertising to promote its branded GLP-1 drugs. In the lawsuit, Novo argues that Lilly uses outdated studies to suggest its GLP-1 drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, help patients lose significantly more weight on average compared to Novo's Ozempic and Wegovy. In an advertisement, Lilly highlighted the results of a company-sponsored study that found that Zepbound led to an average weight loss of 50 pounds compared to an average of 33 pounds for Wegovy. However, Novo said that the study compared the highest doses of Zepbound to lower doses of Wegovy, not the highest dose. Novo also added that more recent data shows weight loss on both companies' GLP-1s drugs is comparable. "They're leaving consumers with the mistaken impression that the Lilly product is vastly superior to the Novo product," said John Kuckelman, SVP and group general counsel at Novo. "In reality, it's not superior at all." If Eli Lilly doesn't pull the ads, Novo will seek a court order to block the ads. The company is also seeking financial compensation, including any profit Lilly made from the ads. In response, Lilly said the advertisement is "truthful, it is transparent, and it is grounded in the most direct scientific evidence available" and that company would defend against the lawsuit vigorously. (Janin, Wall Street Journal, 7/21; Gardner, BioPharma Dive, 7/21)

While many health leaders are excited by the promise of new weight management drugs, including GLP-1s like Wegovy, others see new drugs with old problems. What can we learn from these perceptions? By looking at opinions about three existing medications, we explore the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for weight management drugs.