Notes and sources / checking the claim
What did the studies actually find?
An average is useful. It is not a promise. Look at who took part, what was compared, and what the study leaves open.
Read the notesKeep these questions close
- Check who was studied.
- Read the comparison too.
- Keep the limits beside the result.
Pause. Ask. Check the answer.
Weight loss: read both groups.
In SURMOUNT-1, adults without diabetes who took tirzepatide lost 15% to 21% of their starting weight on average after 72 weeks.
The group given a dummy injection lost about 3%.
The result varied with the strength tested.
The trial received help from the drug maker and included regular visits and advice about eating and activity.
The recorded study notes do not specify whether that help was money, medicine or both. Keep this limit in mind when reading the results.
These are group averages from a trial. They do not promise the same change for a person considering care.
Stopping: the plan matters too.
In SURMOUNT-4, participants first had 36 weeks of tirzepatide treatment.
Some people then stopped tirzepatide and received a dummy injection for the next 52 weeks.
Their average weight gain during that time was 14% of what they weighed when they stopped tirzepatide.
The percentage uses their body weight when they stopped, rather than just the weight they had lost.
The group continuing tirzepatide lost a further 5.5% on average during that period.
Use this finding to ask what a stopping plan might involve. The trial does not require a particular plan for you.
Check the product and care claims.
Approved uses and product limits.
As of September 26, 2026, tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) had different approved uses listed in its labels.
Read the label for the product named in the care plan.
Compounding and the shortage rules.
As of September 26, 2026, tirzepatide was not listed as being in national shortage.
Compounded medicine, made to order for a patient, does not have approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Licences and the quality of a visit.
The state boards hold doctor licence records; their national group publishes guidance on reviewing a patient’s health during care by phone or online.
Use the board records for a name check and the guidance for questions about a visit.
Where the cost notes come from.
The cash-price and discount-card notes use the maker’s published terms recorded on September 26, 2026.
On the online-care pages checked that day, monthly membership charges were common and medicine cost extra.
That small set of advertised offers was not a survey of all care prices.
Use these notes to ask which charges are separate. Get your own written quote for medicine, visits and ongoing fees.
The government’s Medicare Bridge pages explain who can use it, which medicines it includes, and the monthly amount the patient pays.
A dated medicine price does not include an unnamed service’s care fee. Ask for a quote for your own plan.