Novo's Furtive First Step

The “patient voice” is increasingly prominent in the oplesity landscape, and they're all repeating the same core messages: “oplesity” is a disease, and refusing to subsidise weight-loss drugs is “weight stigma.” The eerie similarity in messaging is no coincidence. In this episode, we uncover how Novo Nordisk built and bankrolled an enormous international network of oplesity “patient advocacy” groups, mutating genuine experiences of weight stigma into a powerful political lobbying tool to sell more expensive weight-loss drugs. We unearth extraordinary footage of patient advocates being trained by Novo-funded physicians to parrot carefully scripted messages, reveal lavish, all-expenses-paid “summer schools” at an exclusive resort on the banks of Lake Geneva, and trace how this elaborate strategy was deployed to influence European politicians. But back on Novo's home turf in Denmark, a supposedly grassroots patient advocacy campaign came spectacularly unstuck when investigative journalists got hold of the company's contracts. Don't miss this deep dive into the carefully curated world of Novo's patient puppetry!

Louise and Ragen trace the strange history of GLP-1 weight loss drugs - from Novo Nordisk researchers celebrating when rats literally starved themselves to death, to the marketing machine that turned semaglutide into a "game-changing" global phenomenon. Digging into the details, they uncover disappearing trial participants, the actual data on weight loss claims, the evidence for "lifelong treatment,' serious side effects, drug shortages, compounding wars, and the downright extraordinary ways Novo sold its new blockbuster to doctors, journalists and the public. There's been a huge amount of celebration around this “game changer,” but there’s a bigger question: Who designed the game - and who really benefits?

After the weight-loss drug disasters of the 1990s and 2000s, Obesity Incorporated was in trouble. In this episode Louise and Ragen follow the money as pharmaceutical companies and industry-funded obesity organisations turn their combined attention to regulators, lawmakers and medical organisations. From closed-door meetings with the FDA and millions spent lobbying Congress, to the extraordinary 2013 AMA decision to classify obesity as a disease, they trace how the rules of the game were changed just as a new generation of weight-loss drugs was waiting in the wings. When Novo Nordisk’s Saxenda finally arrived before an FDA advisory committee, some very familiar faces were in the room. Welcome to Novo’s Thievish Third Step, where science, safety and evidence collide with an awful lot of pharma cash.

Novo Nordisk didn't stop after pushing the "obesity as a disease" idea, they quickly set to work training doctors to diagnose and "treat" it. Step two of their plan to create the obesity market was to ensure every doctor, nurse, and med student on Earth would be "educated" by the company selling the cure. In this episode, Louise and Ragen trace 40 years of pharma-funded "education," starting with a rigged 1997 World Health Organization meeting that declared 29 million Americans "too fat" overnight. We dig into the shadowy Novo-funded initiatives: SCOPE, OMEC, and the FORWARD curriculum - which are steadily infiltrating what medical schools teach about fat bodies. If you care about education devolving into an industry-sponsored infomercial, don't miss this episode!

Just over a decade ago, Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk announced their intention to build the “Obesity” market “from scratch.” In episode 2 of Exposing Obesity Incorporated, we explore how a pharmaceutical giant transformed one third of human adults into a disease category. We reveal their 3-pronged marketing plan, uncovering the tactics detailed during a remarkably candid Powerpoint presentation which openly described their plan to create “legitimacy and urgency” for the weight loss market. We break down Novo’s intention to manipulate scientific and medical communities, influence guidelines, and exploit social justice concepts such as weight stigma in order to push their weight-loss drugs into every corner of healthcare, regardless of the real science. In the “Age of Ozempic,” the relentless drive to medicalize and pathologize higher weight people is producing obscene profiteering at the expense of scientific objectivity. If you’re fed up with the industry’s smoke and mirrors, this episode is essential listening. Perfect for anyone with a body, as well as healthcare professionals, activists, or anyone suspecting they’re being sold a narrative instead of healthcare, don’t miss this episode!