Swiss Re Risk Watchers Wonder About Injectable Weight-Loss Drugs

Obesity contributes to the deaths of many people each year, but risk watchers at a Swiss Re research arm fear that weight-loss drugs could kill people, too.

A team at the reinsurer’s research arm has listed the new injectable weight-loss drugs, such as semaglutide, as a possible emerging threat to insurance companies’ customers.

For overweight and obese individuals, the health benefits of using the drugs might be greater than the risks, the team noted in a new report on emerging risks.

However, ”the long-term effects of the consistent presence of a molecule that signals satiation, which, when produced naturally by the stomach, is present for just a few minutes after food ingestion, remain unknown,” the team warned. “Possible suspected negative effects are (mal)functioning of the thyroid gland (e.g., thyroid cancer) and the pancreas (pancreatitis).”

What It Means

In some cases, clients’ efforts to improve their health and extend their life expectancy backfire. That can add to the difficulty of estimating any given client’s life expectancy.

Swiss Re

As a reinsurer, Swiss Re is an insurance company for insurance companies. It protects customers against catastrophic risk.

The Threats

The new Swiss Re team acknowledged that the overall threat of weight-loss drugs would likely be low.

They also discussed the life and health threats that could be caused by other emerging threats, such as new strains of pandemic flu.

Because the new injectable drugs are versions of diabetes drugs, another concern is that use of the drugs for weight control could hurt people with diabetes, by reducing their access to the drugs, according to the Swiss Re team.