From Vox · Dolly Li · · 1m 10s
The racial gap in GLP-1 prescriptions
Black Americans have diabetes at nearly twice the rate of white Americans, but receive newer diabetes drugs far less often. The roots run back a century.
In brief
Black Americans have diabetes at nearly twice the rate of white Americans, but receive newer diabetes drugs far less often. The roots run back a century. Black Americans are prescribed GLP-1 diabetes drugs at much lower rates than white Americans despite higher diabetes rates, a disparity rooted in historical medical…
The drug everyone wants
GLP-1s like Ozempic and Wegovy have become celebrity status symbols for weight loss. But they were originally developed to treat Type 2 diabetes, which affects nearly 40 million Americans.
Black Americans hit hardest
According to the CDC, about 12 percent of Black adults have diabetes, compared with roughly 7 percent of white adults.
A century of medical racism
A century ago, doctors called diabetes a luxury disease of wealthy white and Jewish people and didn't believe Black people could get it.
Why the gap persists
The disparity between Black and white patients' access to GLP-1s traces back to this history of race and diabetes in America. Closing that gap will take more than a prescription.
What to remember
Black Americans are prescribed GLP-1 diabetes drugs at much lower rates than white Americans despite higher diabetes rates, a disparity rooted in historical medical racism.
