Critics Warn Senate Bill 66 Could Limit Affordable Weight Loss Treatments In Colorado

By: Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado

For decades, Colorado has led the way in legalizing non-FDA approved drugs for use as experimental medicines, including marijuana and other psychedelics. So, I couldn’t believe it when I heard about Senate Bill 26-066, “Regulation of Compounded Weight Loss Medication,” which slaps onerous restrictions on Coloradans’ ability to obtain life-changing, and relatively inexpensive versions of GLP-1 weight loss drugs from compounding pharmacies.

A favor to pharma

There are so many reasons to oppose this bill, I honestly don’t know how anyone could support the “bi-partisan” effort of Democrat Iman Jodeh and Republican John Carson, other than as a political favor to big pharma. After listening to all the testimony on the bill (as well as testifying against it myself), and then watching how it passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee 5-4, I’m more convinced of that than ever.

The tiebreaker to send the bill to the Senate floor came from chairman of the committee, Kyle Mullica, whose yes vote came despite the fact that one after another, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, lawyers and consumers gave solid testimony as to why this is a terrible bill, while very few testified in favor.

Testimony was so compelling against her bill, in fact, that Jodeh disingenuously reassured the committee that the patented formula was available to consumers for just $149 per month.  Not true. The fact is that is Eli Lilly starts its lowest dose of Zepbound at $300 per month, and then charges three times the cost Jodeh cited, as well as places additional conditions on being able to get the three most effective doses at its discounted rate of $450 per month.

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