Researchers on the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado, tracked 201 veterans prescribed semaglutide, the drug offered beneath the model names Ozempic and Wegovy, within the facility’s weight administration clinic. After one 12 months, these veterans averaged 10% physique weight reduction and confirmed measurable enhancements in physique mass index (BMI), blood strain, LDL ldl cholesterol, triglycerides and blood sugar. They additionally reported enhancements of their total high quality of life.
The research, revealed within the Journal of General Internal Medicine, is the primary to look at semaglutide’s effectiveness particularly in a Department of Veterans Affairs weight administration program moderately than in a pharmaceutical firm’s scientific trial.
Why It Matters for Veterans
Obesity charges amongst veterans are considerably larger than the overall inhabitants. VA information has constantly proven that roughly 40% of veterans enrolled in VA well being care are overweight, with the very best charges amongst post-9/11 veterans. Obesity is a driver of heart problems, Type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, joint deterioration and a variety of circumstances that many veterans are already managing alongside service-connected disabilities.
For veterans rated for circumstances similar to knee accidents, again ache or PTSD-related sleep disruption, extra weight compounds signs and limits mobility. Weight loss on the 10% stage that the research documented is clinically significant. It is the brink at which physicians sometimes see reductions in blood strain remedy wants, improved blood sugar management and decreased cardiovascular danger.
What makes this research beneficial is that it displays real-world VA scientific circumstances, not a managed pharmaceutical trial. The 201 veterans have been prescribed semaglutide particularly for weight reduction moderately than for diabetes or different medical circumstances. They have been additionally enrolled in dietary counseling and a weight-loss program that included train and bodily well being practices by means of the VA’s “Move!” program or equal. The outcomes present that the drug works in a VA setting, with VA sufferers, beneath VA scientific protocols.
The Bigger GLP-1 Picture on the VA
This research is a part of a rising physique of VA-funded analysis on GLP-1 receptor agonists that’s altering how the VA thinks about these medicine. Earlier this 12 months, a separate VA St. Louis research of 606,000 veterans discovered that GLP-1 medicine diminished the chance of creating substance use problems throughout each main addictive substance, together with alcohol, opioids, nicotine, cocaine and hashish. That research additionally discovered a 25% discount in suicidal ideation amongst veterans taking GLP-1 medicines.
Read More: VA Study: Ozempic, Other GLP-1 Drugs May Fight Addiction Across Every Major Substance
A bigger VA remedy use analysis throughout 37 VA medical facilities discovered that semaglutide was among the many most ceaselessly prescribed weight administration medicines within the VA system and that veterans who mixed remedy with the VA’s “Move!” behavioral weight administration program achieved larger charges of clinically important weight reduction than these on remedy alone.
A separate research from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, additionally utilizing VA information from 21,790 veterans, in contrast the cardiovascular and kidney security profiles of three totally different GLP-1 medicine: liraglutide, semaglutide and dulaglutide. Published in JAMA Network Open, the research discovered that every one three have been comparably secure, with the lead researcher noting that the VA well being system is a “treasure trove” of knowledge for evaluating medicines in real-world populations.
Access and Coverage
Semaglutide is out there by means of the VA however is classed as non-formulary with standards for use, that means it requires prior authorization and is usually prescribed after first-line choices have been thought-about. The fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act approved Tricare to cowl weight reduction medicine for treating weight problems when prescribed by a community supplier and built-in right into a complete remedy plan, a big enlargement. The Trump administration introduced in April 2025 that Medicare wouldn’t cowl GLP-1 medicine for weight reduction, reversing a Biden-era resolution. That doesn’t immediately have an effect on VA protection, which operates beneath its personal formulary, however the broader entry debate continues to form how shortly these medicine attain the veteran inhabitants.
Veterans fascinated with semaglutide for weight reduction ought to speak to their VA main care supplier or ask for a referral to their facility’s “Move!” weight administration program. The Aurora research demonstrates that the drug works finest when mixed with the behavioral and dietary help the VA already gives.
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