Bariatric surgery rates declining as more adults prescribed obesity drugs

Bariatric surgery uptake has decreased since the fourth quarter of 2022, coinciding with a rise in prescriptions of semaglutide and tirzepatide for adults with obesity, according to a research letter published in JAMA Surgery.
In data collected from the Epic Cosmos electronic health record database, 24.17% of adults with a BMI of 40 kg/m2 or higher without an obesity-related comorbidity or those with a BMI of 35 kg/m2 or higher with an obesity-related comorbidity received a prescription for semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy, Novo Nordisk) or tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound, Eli Lilly) in the third




