The Problem with Drug Pricing | Dr. Lindsey Elmore

The Lindsey Elmore Show

Lindsey Elmore

Health & Fitness, Nutrition, Alternative Health, Medicine

5.0 • 529 Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this eye-opening episode, Dr. Lindsey Elmore exposes the chaos unfolding in the UK as Mounjaro (weight loss/diabetes medication) prices skyrocket 170% overnight—jumping from £92 to £330 per month. Discover how Eli Lilly's "European price matching" triggered panic buying, crashed pharmacy websites, and left patients spending over £1,000 to stockpile medications. Lindsey examines the real-world impact, even in the U.S.: supply shortages, hoarding behaviors, and the unfair advantage given to those who can afford to bulk-buy versus patients with genuine medical needs. A must-listen for understanding how arbitrary pharmaceutical pricing decisions affect real people's access to life-sustaining medications.

Main Topic Introduction

00:00-00:30: Discussion focuses on Mounjaro (weight loss/diabetes medication) pricing crisis in the UK

The Price Hike

00:37-01:13: Massive 170% price increase starting September 1st, 2025
- Current price: £92/month
- New price: £330/month (up from planned £122/month)
01:25-01:41: Eli Lilly justifies increase as "adjusting prices to match the rest of Europe"

Pharmacy Response

00:37 & 01:41-02:01: UK's largest online pharmacy "Pharmacy2U" freezes prices, then stops sales entirely

Panic Buying Crisis

02:09-02:34: Patients stockpiling medications before price hikes
02:22: Pharmacies offering 3, 6, or 9-month bundles
02:44-02:59: Real examples: patients buying 7-8 pens, spending over £1,000 in panic purchases
04:35: Pharmacy websites crashing from demand

Supply Chain Impact

02:59-03:24: Hoarding strains supply chains and prevents access for patients who truly need the medication
03:24-03:44: Medical experts urge against hoarding injectable medications at home

Core Issues Identified

03:51-04:12: Access and fairness concerns - distinguishing between medical necessity vs. cosmetic use
05:37-05:57: Drug prices change "for no reason at all" with no patient input
06:08-06:27: Need to prioritize patients who medically need medications over those who can afford to stockpile

Solutions Proposed

04:59-05:27: Work with legislators through existing Inflation Reduction Act framework
06:27-06:55: Legislative action needed to control "absurd" arbitrary drug pricing, especially for life-sustaining medications

Episode Conclusion

07:06-07:14: Show closing: encouraging wise health decisions

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome everybody to this week's edition of the Lindsay Elmore show.
0:03.8	Super excited to talk to you about one of my favorite topics, drug pricing.
0:09.5	I know you love it too.
0:10.7	Everybody does.
0:11.5	It's like a topic.
0:12.4	Everybody says it's a dinner conversation.
0:14.5	Everybody wants it.
0:15.8	So there's a big story in weight loss medications in the UK.
0:20.6	And I know that I am a U.S. kind of in-based podcast, but their Bonjaro, which many of you know,
0:30.2	is one of the most talked about weight loss drugs and it's also used for diabetes.
0:34.6	And the big problem is happening is that prices are going way up starting september 1st
0:41.1	2025 um the uk's biggest online pharmacy pharmacy to you just announced that it will freeze
0:48.8	prices for now um but people are buying in panic um in response to what's happening because the prices are going up
0:58.6	and the prices aren't just like going up they're going up 170 percent it's a major major
1:06.8	price hike it's going from you know 92 right Right now the price is about 92 pounds a month to
1:14.2	122 pounds a month. And it's going up for like 330 pounds a month. The problem with this is that
1:22.5	patients have no say in the pricing of meds. And price hikes like this can just happen they just happen and drug
1:33.5	companies um Eli Lilly is the drug company that's um that we're talking about who has uh control
1:38.8	over Monjaro says that they're just adjusting their prices to match the rest of Europe
1:46.0	awesome awesome friends that they're just adjusting their prices to match the rest of Europe. Awesome.
1:47.3	Awesome, friends.
1:49.2	And so, like I said, Pharmacy to you is freezing prices.
	...

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