Key TakeawaysEli Lilly has launched a service called LillyDirect that allows patients to get its weight loss drug Zepbound and other medications directly.The service can facilitate care for obesity, diabetes, and migraine.On the website, you can also search for independent telehealth providers or in-person care for these conditions.
Key Takeaways
Eli Lilly has launched a service called LillyDirect that allows patients to get its weight loss drug Zepbound and other medications directly.The service can facilitate care for obesity, diabetes, and migraine.On the website, you can also search for independent telehealth providers or in-person care for these conditions.
The drugmaker Eli Lilly launched a new platform calledLillyDirect, which connects patients with independent providers who can prescribe obesity medications, including Lilly’s new drug Zepbound. The website’s online pharmacy allows patients to order some of Lilly’s medications for obesity, migraine, or diabetes as long as they have a prescription.
Lilly has employed different telehealth companies to service each condition:Formfor obesity,Covefor migraine, and9amHealthfor diabetes. LillyDirect can also connect patients with an in-person provider for each condition, as well as facilitate prescription home delivery—if the prescription is for a Lilly-manufactured drug.
Medication options offered through the pharmacy arm of LillyDirect are limited toZepbound, an injectable weight loss drug,Emgality, an injection to treat migraine, and several insulin products to treat diabetes.More drugs are expected to be added.
Zepbound: New and In-Demand
While Lilly manufactures both Zepbound and Monjaro, Mounjaro is not currently an option on LillyDirect.
Patients who are interested in Zepbound can navigate directly to thepharmacy sectionof LillyDirect. But the platform can be used to manage obesity with or without medication. For instance, you can use the doctor search function to connect with an obesity specialist in your area or connect with an obesity specialist virtually viaForm.
Form physicians, according to the company’s website, are trained in obesity medicine and ask to see patient records and to be connected with a patient’s general physician before prescribing treatment. Lilly says Form physicians do not know that patients have come through the LillyDirect portal, are not required to prescribe Zepbound, and are not compensated for prescribing Zepbound.
According to Lilly, patients who are prescribed Zepbound, specifically, do not pay shipping costs and will see any discount available coupons immediately applied to the cost of the drug.
What’s Next for Pharmaceuticals and Telehealth?
No other companies that make weight loss drugs have announced direct-to-consumer options so far, including Novo Nordisk, which manufactures Ozempic, Wegovy, and Saxenda.
While ACP values efforts to remove barriers to care, which is one of Lilly’s stated goals, “they should not devalue the proven benefits of the patient-physician relationship,” the statement said.
Other physicians share concerns with ACP not about the concept of telehealth for obesity treatment, but regarding the need for an established physician relationship for optimal care.
“Obesity as a health condition is ideally suited for management via virtual care,” obesity specialistDina Hafez Griauzde, MD, an assistant professor at VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, told Verywell. The weight management clinic she runs is entirely virtual. “This works very well to improve access and follow-ups. However, it is a virtual model embedded in a medical system where we can readily review labs, medications, diagnoses, and more, as well as communicate with patients’ other providers to enhance patient-centered care. The result is coordinated and effective obesity treatment.”
Griauzde, who takes no funding from drug companies that make obesity medications, says that level of patient-centered care is difficult to achieve from a singular service.
“Standalone telehealth obesity medicine companies are problematic because they cannot—even if they say they will—do the above,” she said.
What This Means For YouIf you’ve been prescribed Zepbound but are having trouble accessing the medication, connecting with the pharmacy services section of LillyDirect may help you get it.
What This Means For You
If you’ve been prescribed Zepbound but are having trouble accessing the medication, connecting with the pharmacy services section of LillyDirect may help you get it.
2 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.LillyDirect.Find your Lilly medicine.Food and Drug Administration.FDA approves new medication for chronic weight management.
2 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.LillyDirect.Find your Lilly medicine.Food and Drug Administration.FDA approves new medication for chronic weight management.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
LillyDirect.Find your Lilly medicine.Food and Drug Administration.FDA approves new medication for chronic weight management.
LillyDirect.Find your Lilly medicine.
Food and Drug Administration.FDA approves new medication for chronic weight management.
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