Ozempic and Wegovy maker courts prominent Black leaders to get Medicare's favor

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/08/07/ [login to see] /ozempic-and-wegovy-maker-courts-prominent-black-leaders-to-get-medicares-favor
Pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk has turned to influential Black Americans in pursuit of what would be a lucrative victory: having Medicare cover a new class of weight loss drugs, including the company's highly sought Wegovy, which can cost patients more than $1,000 a month.

During a conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation last fall — a jampacked gathering featuring prominent Black lawmakers and President Joe Biden — Novo Nordisk sponsored a panel discussion on obesity for which it selected the moderator and panelists, company spokesperson Nicole Ferreira said. The foundation is a nonprofit affiliated with the Congressional Black Caucus, a powerful group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Former CNN political commentator Roland Martin moderated. Black health experts who support Medicare coverage of drugs used to treat obesity served on the panel. They included Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Stanford is a specialist in obesity who has received consulting fees from Novo Nordisk.