BMI not good enough to decide who gets subsidised weight loss drugs under PBS, GP expert warns
'TGA indications have narrowed the conversation to BMI,' says GP Dr Terri-Lynne South.
As pharmaceutical companies hope the PBAC will decide to fund weight loss drugs, GPs worry that BMI will remain the keystone of any PBS eligibility criteria.
Despite a global push to assess obesity more rigorously, the UK Government’s funding criteria for tirzepatide (Mounjaro), announced last year, were simply a BMI of at least 35kg/m2 and one weight-related comorbidity, with lower BMI cut-offs for some ethnicities.
GP Dr Terri-Lynne South told AusDoc she worried that any criteria the PBAC recommended would be similarly BMI focused.
In Australia, when the TGA approved Mounjaro for weight loss in 2024, the indications were a BMI over 30kg/m2 or a BMI of 27-30kg/m2 and one weight-related comorbidity.
