Report: Kentucky leads the nation in weight loss drug prescriptions

Christopher Leach
·1 min read

Kentucky ranks atop the list of states in the country with the highest rate of people prescribed for a popular weight loss drug, according to a published report from Bloomberg, citing data from health tech company PurpleLab.

According to the Bloomberg article, 6.8% of Kentuckians, about 1 of every 15 residents, prescribe to a class of drugs known as incretins. The drug, initially used to treat type-2 diabetes, mimics hormones that regulate blood sugar and suppress appetite. Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound are popular brand of the incretin drugs.

Additionally, the study said Bowling Green has the highest rate of incretin prescriptions in the nation — about 4% of Bowling Green’s 74,000 residents. The story said Bowling Green is a perfect location for the weight loss drug capital in the country, given the state’s high obesity rate and large middle class population in Bowling Green.

States with the highest use of prescription weight loss drugs

Rounding out the top five of the states with the highest weight-loss prescription rates behind Kentucky are Alabama, West Virginia, Mississippi and Georgia, according to the Bloomberg article.

Latest Stories

  • Older Adults Are Revealing The "Hard Truths" About Aging That Are Rarely Talked About, And My Twentysomething-Self Was Not Prepared To Hear These

    "These little moments make me realize that my body is aging in subtle ways that I don't notice until it's too late."

  • I Suffer From The Most Painful Condition Known To Medicine — And My Life Is A Nightmare

    "It is considered more painful than fibromyalgia or giving birth — even more painful than amputating a finger without anesthesia."

  • Doctor asks for changes as patient quoted $700 for breast ultrasound

    Last September, Erin Bell went to her doctor for a biennial mammogram.While the Vancouver woman was cancer-free, her doctor recommended a bilateral breast ultrasound — which can be used to detect cancer in women with dense breast tissue, who are at greater risk of developing cancer.A year after, Bell, 48, got a call from her doctor — not to schedule an appointment, but to inform her that she'd have to go to a private clinic to do so."I got a call from my doctor's office from the reception there

  • 14 First Nations on Vancouver Island declare state of emergency

    Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council (NTC) has declared a state of emergency for all 14 First Nations on Vancouver Island it represents due to the mental health and opioid crisis.At a news conference in Port Alberni, B.C., Thursday, NTC president Judith Sayers, a member of Hupacasath First Nation, called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to come to the table to help in their fight for resources to deal with immediate community needs. "Let's put new meaning into emergency and actually stop all these deat

  • Here's What ER Doctors Say Every Person Should Do After A Fall, Regardless Of Your Age

    It’s important not to push through pain or discomfort after a fall.

  • Gran, 86, waits 25 hours in hospital corridor after heart attack - before giving up

    An 86-year-old woman who had suffered a suspected heart attack waited 25 hours in a hospital corridor for a ward bed - before giving up and going home. Maria Bodea, 86, had a suspected heart attack failure at home and was taken to St Helier Hospital, Sutton, London, by ambulance. But there were no ward beds available and the gran-of-two was put on a trolley bed in a corridor with up to 20 others, her family say. Widow Maria and her daughter Sanda Ghiurcusor, 57, were stationed next to a door leading outside, forcing them to wear wooly hats to keep warm. A spokesperson for Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust said:   “While we always do our best for our patients, these are not the conditions we want to care for them in and we are really sorry that Mrs Bodea did not have a good experience. “When our services are exceptionally busy, as they are at the moment, we sometimes have to care for people in other areas of the hospital until a suitable bed becomes available - this is always only a temporary measure and patients are supervised by clinical teams at all times.”

  • Health Matters: Canada to use Pfizer's 'Abrysvo' RSV vaccine

    Pfizer says Canada has selected its "Abrysvo" RSV vaccine for use in adults 60 and over for the upcoming virus season. "Abrysvo" is also approved for use in pregnant people to provide protection to infants. Katherine Ward has this story and more in Health Matters for Sept. 19, 2024.

  • Harris to make abortion speech in Georgia after deaths of two women

    Vice President Harris will travel to Georgia on Friday to highlight her support for abortion rights, likely focusing on the stories of two women whose deaths she blames on the state’s abortion ban passed by Republicans after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. “The Vice President will highlight the stark contrast between her commitment to…

  • The GOP's Obamacare Agenda Just Reemerged From Hiding

    Here's how to interpret what Republicans have been saying about the Affordable Care Act and prescription drugs.

  • Lebanese doctor 'numb' after treating exploding pager patients

    STORY: :: As hundreds injured by exploding pagers began to arrive at a Beirut hospital, this doctor recalls the scene:: September 18, 2024:: Hazmieh, Lebanon:: Dania El Hallak, Internal medicine specialist"We didn't know what to do. We didn't understand what was happening. At that moment, we started receiving text messages about pagers exploding. Again, we were scared. We had pagers in the hospital. So just like that, at that moment, all pagers in the hospital were shut down.""The hardest thing I saw was young patients completely blown out everywhere with their bowels out and I still had to talk to them, take their names, ask them about their allergies, ask them if they had any past medical histories that I should know about so I could treat them. It was very difficult for me to witness, a patient speaking to me and his intestines were hanging out.""I feel numb, I feel numb. I am still thinking that I have a lot of work to do at night and I am just thinking - how am I going to still have energy for tonight's shift."Twelve people were killed on Tuesday (September 17) and nearly 3,000 were injured when pagers used by Hezbollah members - including fighters and medics - detonated simultaneously across Lebanon.Over 2,700 people arrived at 20 Lebanese hospitals after Tuesday's blasts, caretaker Health Minister Firas Abiad said, some 300 in a critical condition.More than 400 surgeries were carried out on Tuesday, the majority for facial and eye injuries.El Hallak was speaking on Wednesday about treating those injured by pager explosions. Later on Wednesday, hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated across Lebanon's south in the country's deadliest day since cross-border fighting erupted between the militants and Israel nearly a year ago, stoking tensions after similar explosions of the group's pagers the day before.Lebanon's health ministry said 20 people were killed and more than 450 injured on Wednesday in Beirut's suburbs and the Bekaa Valley.

  • A drug made by a Florida company has been recalled for a possibly lethal contamination

    It was sold nationwide by a New Jersey firm.

  • “ER” Premiered 30 Years Ago Today: Major Moments You Forgot from the Pilot (Including George Clooney's Charm)

    The hit hospital show's pilot was packed with patients, doctors and drama

  • The Mormon Wives' Soda Habits Are Dangerously Unhealthy, Expert Warns

    The 'Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' stars talk about their soda "vice" on the series, but is drinking 44 ounces of soda really better than the coffee they avoid?

  • Drugs which switch on vitamin A in the body may stave off MND, research suggests

    Scientists at the University of Aberdeen led the study.

  • Experts Are Sharing The Foods You Should Start — And Stop — Eating During Menopause

    Hormone fluctuations in your gut can actually make it harder to digest some foods.

  • Los Angeles area sees more dengue fever in people bitten by local mosquitoes

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Health officials warned Wednesday that the Los Angeles area is seeing more dengue fever cases in people who have not traveled outside the U.S. mainland, a year after the first such case was reported in California.

  • Whoopi Goldberg Opens Up About Friendships with Robin Williams and Christopher Reeve: 'They Were Rocks for Me'

    Goldberg recalled her friendship with Reeve during an interview with his adult children on 'The View'

  • JD Vance’s Pitch Puts Obamacare Repeal Efforts Back in the Spotlight

    (Bloomberg) -- Democrats are seizing on JD Vance’s pitch to do away with a bedrock part of the Affordable Care Act, saying it would cause costs for chronically ill people to spike. Most Read from BloombergAOC Proposes $30 Billion Social Housing AuthorityThe Moonshot Plan to Eliminate Deaths on America’s RoadsCalifornia’s Anti-Speeding Bill Can Be a Traffic Safety BreakthroughNew York City’s Transit System Plans $65.4 Billion of Upgrades for Grand Central, SubwaysBelfast’s Grand Central Station C

  • In unusual rebuke of San Diego County sheriff, coroner rules diabetic man's jail death a homicide by neglect

    According to autopsy findings, the diabetic inmate's insulin pump was likely beeping nonstop for nearly 24 hours, alerting that it had run out of medication.

  • Abortion is quietly driving the voting conversation in Georgia — even if it isn’t on the ballot

    And the Harris campaign knows it.