Study Finds Bariatric Surgery Could Be More Cost-Effective Than Weight Loss Medications

A new study finds weight loss surgery may actually be less expensive in the long run compared to popular weight loss drugs.

While weight loss medicines like Ozempic and Wegovy have become more popular more recently, weight loss procedures like bariatric surgery are still helping people lose weight and keep it off.

Bailey Medical Center performs anywhere from 400 to 600 bariatric and metabolic procedures to treat obesity each year. Those surgeries could be covered by insurance in certain situations while injections typically are thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses.

Catherine Gaffney at Bailey Medical Center said people who undergo a bariatric procedure may typically lose more weight than by taking something like Wegovy. She also said any weight loss plan should be supervised by a doctor.

"Any program that people engage in, I strongly encourage that it just needs a patient, long-term approach. There is not an easy fix for this, and there is not an easy cure. The body composition, monitoring, and advice by experts I think is key," Gaffney said.

Bailey Medical Center usually takes each individual on a case-by-case basis to determine if medicine or surgery is a better fit for someone's weight loss. Gaffney said we need to think about obesity as a disease and that will help determine how best to treat it.

Gaffney said it also depends on where you're at in life as to whether something like surgery or using medicine, which are more for long-term use, might be a better fit to help with weight loss.

"Obviously nutrition and exercise is a factor, but it is a good use of your money thinking about if you’re a younger person and you need to maintain these medicines for the rest of your life versus getting one gastric bypass at one point in time," Gaffney said.

Gaffney said if you do decide to go the bariatric surgery route or the medicine route, both options are very safe ways to treat obesity and can help reduce the risk for other things like heart attacks or death.