David Cooper (host)

We'll dig into it in a minute.

Ozempic, it's the hottest thing right now touted for weight loss.

But what if there's another revolution in the drug's path, using it to turn down alcohol cravings?

The results on that use are good.

I am here with someone who's done research in this area.

He's a physician and scientist at the National Institutes of Health.

His name is Dr. Lorenzo Leggio.

Lorenzo, welcome to the program.

Thank you, David.

Thanks for having me.

Before we get to how many people are actually using Ozempic for alcohol use disorders, how effective is it based on the research?

Now, I'm not a doctor, in case you're wondering, so correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is once a drug hits the market and it's proven safe for the general public, doctors can use it in a process called off-label prescription for things that they think it could help for.

Because Ozempic is known to be safe, and I'm sure there are people who have alcohol use disorder who talk to their doctor, when they do get prescribed it off-label, what are they saying?

Clinical trials, yeah.

I'm actually prescribed gabapentin off-label for some mental health stuff, even though it's used.

Anyway, okay.

I want to talk about alcohol abuse and people who have it.

If I had some other illness, mental health problem, and I went to talk to a doctor, it would be likely or possible that I would get prescribed medication.

Is it the case that people who have alcohol problems very rarely get prescribed things, like at a much lower rate of other disorders, health issues?

If so, why is that happening?