Lilly launches virtual medical care website
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — LillyDirect is a telehealth platform for some of Lilly’s most popular drugs.
The new service marks the first time a pharmaceutical company has gotten this involved in care coordination and delivery of its products.
Now Lilly can connect people who may need medicine due to their obesity, diabetes, and migraines. The new website can connect patients to virtual medical care.
The Indiana-based company said it wants to ensure that its medicine is prescribed and used safely.
On Thursday, Lilly said it “stands against the use of its medicines for cosmetic purposes.”
“Mounjaro and Zepbound are indicated for the treatment of serious diseases; they are not approved for – and should not be used for – cosmetic weight loss,” the company said in a news release.
Once the medication is available and a doctor sends your prescription to LillyDirect Pharmacy Solutions, patients can elect to have their prescription medications discreetly delivered to their homes.
The launch of the new health site comes after recent changes by weight loss companies such as Weight Watchers and Noom. They also offer telehealth prescribing.
Lilly partnered with 9amHealth, Forum, and Cove. They said they have no financial relationships with the telehealth providers it is working with.
Some experts are concerned the service may create conflict of interest issues.
“The idea that you have pharmacists and doctors who are devoted, in effect, to Lilly products does not seem in the best interest of patients,” said Dr. Peter Lurie, president and executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest and former associate commissioner for public health strategy and analysis at the FDA. “I mean, what if, for some reason, the best drug for a patient was a non-Lilly drug? Do we really think that these telehealth providers are not going to push them towards the Lilly version?”