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Can Ozempic end addiction? | Dhruv Khullar | Your Body on Tech

Explore episode Jun 26, 2026

Society & Culture

Are We Giving Up on Root Causes by Medicalizing Addiction?

Can Ozempic end addiction? | Dhruv Khullar | Your Body on T… · Jun 26, 2026 Society & Culture

When a drug is powerful enough, it becomes tempting to stop addressing the social root causes — poverty, loneliness, trauma, the food environment — that produce the problem in the first place. Khullar worries that widespread GLP-1 use could reduce pressure to fix broken food systems and built environments. But he also acknowledges we've been failing at that work for decades, and people need help today.

Where this was said

The Downsides: Cost, Dropout, Muscle Loss, and Unknown Long-Term Effects

At 37:08 · chapter starts 34:55

When Manoush asks for the downsides, Khullar gives a thorough and balanced accounting. The adherence problem is fundamental — drugs only work if you take them, and more than half of patients stop within a year. Cost is a real barrier at up to $1,300 a month without insurance coverage. GI side effects may affect more people in the real world than clinical trials suggest. Muscle loss is clinically significant: rapid weight reduction strips away lean mass, increasing frailty risk, which is why Khullar recommends GLP-1 use be paired with high-protein diet and strength training^{[1]

— Dhruv Khullar

"More than half of patients stop GLP-1 medications within a year, whether from side effects, cost, or access. The sticker price can hit $1,3…"

31:50}. On long-term effects, he draws reassurance from the fact that exenatide, the first GLP-1 drug, launched around 2005–2006, giving the class a roughly 20-year track record — but acknowledges newer formulations may carry risks yet to surface.

Health & Fitness

First GLP-1 drug launched in 2005–2006

Can Ozempic end addiction? | Dhruv Khullar | Your Body on T… · Jun 26, 2026

The first GLP-1 medication (exenatide) was approved around 2005–2006, meaning these drugs have a roughly 20-year safety track record, providing some reassurance about long-term effects.

Is it really the case that people are going to have to be on these medications for the long term, or is there a way to use these GLP-1 medications as a bridge to other types of interventions?

Dhruv Khullar

Can Ozempic end addiction? | Dhruv Khul…

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