The Trump administration’s recent deal with drug manufacturers to lower the cost of popular GLP-1 weight-loss medications is a "game-changer," but the price for many Americans would still be too high to afford, Long Island obesity doctors said.

David Olson reports in NEWSDAY that the current price for Zepbound when purchased directly from the company is $499; it can be more than $1,000 when purchased through pharmacies. The lowest dose will cost $299 a month.

Novo Nordisk, which makes Wegovy, has not announced its prices.

Higher doses, however, generally are needed to help people lose significant weight, said Dr. Andrea Bedrosian, director of bariatrics at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset.

GLP-1s currently are taken in injections, but Eli Lilly is asking for Food and Drug Administration approval for a pill, orforglipron, that it has agreed to price at $149 for the lowest dose, and $399 for other doses.

"That is still a very high price to ask," said Dr. Konstantinos Spaniolas, director of the Stony Brook Bariatric and Metabolic Weight Loss Center.

Even so, he said, combined with a planned $50 monthly Medicare copay for some GLP-1s that would cover many but not all Medicare beneficiaries with obesity, and possible Medicaid coverage, the deal "is a great step in the right direction to allow patients to get the care they need."

Medicare, a federal program for people 65 and over and younger people with certain disabilities, currently does not cover GLP-1s for weight loss, nor does Medicaid in most states, including New York. They do cover them for diabetes.

Medicaid is a state-federal program for low-income people. The agreement allows state Medicaid programs to purchase the drugs for $245, the White House said. States decide whether to cover the drug. New York "is still in the process of reviewing the announcement of the Trump administration," the state health department said in an email.

Low-income residents have the highest obesity rates, state data shows.

GLP-1 stands for glucagon-like peptide-1, a naturally occurring hormone that helps regulate blood sugar, digestion, and appetite. It works by stimulating the pancreas to release insulin, slowing down how quickly the stomach empties, and signaling to the brain that you are full.

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Similar to gatherings across the east end yesterday, in Riverhead, under wintry skies, with snow flurries swirling in cold, blustery winds, folks gathered at the War Memorial monument on West Main Street Tuesday morning for Riverhead’s annual Veterans Day ceremony. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that on the lawn outside the Suffolk County Historical Society Museum, where West Main and Court streets, intersect, is a massive granite block that bears a bronze tablet engraved with the names of the 304 Riverhead men who served in World War I. It is topped with a gas-powered torch whose flame burns day and night, year-round.

Originally erected in 1920 at the corner of Griffing Avenue and West Main Street, where the Historical Society was then located, the monument was unveiled on Memorial Day that year with great fanfare. Col. Theodore Roosevelt Jr., son of the late president, attended the dedication, which drew an “immense crowd,” according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. The monument was moved to its present site in 1926, on land donated to the Historical Society by Alice Perkins, where the museum was later built and still stands today.

Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard spoke at this year’s Veterans Day ceremony. “Every American has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. None of this would be possible without the sacrifice, dedication and service of our nation’s veterans,” Hubbard said. “They have truly made our nation and the entire world a better, safer, freer and more just place…Here in Riverhead, we are proud to be home to many veterans who continue to enrich our community every day,” he said. “Whether serving overseas or here at home, veterans embody the spirit of selflessness, resilience and love of country.”

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The Cutchogue Civic Association will host a panel discussion around the issue of food surplus, food rescue and food insecurity on the East End this evening from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Cutchogue-New Suffolk Free Library.

The panelists will offer their perspectives on the sources of food surplus, environmental impacts of allowing food surplus to go unused, how the inevitable surplus of produce and restaurant food can be re-directed to address food insecurity in our community (such as supplying local food pantries), and the benefits of composting inedible surplus.

This evening’s event is free.

The panelists are:

• Food Rescue US / North Fork, Anne Howard
• Golden Acres Farm, Kelly Brennan
• The North Fork Shack, Samy Sabin
• North Fork Parish Outreach at St. Agnes (Greenport), Maria Fedele
• LI Organics Council, Francesca Greco

That's tonight's Cutchogue Civic Association: “Surplus Food and Produce Find a Home Here” discussion which begins at 6 p.m. in Cutchogue-New Suffolk Library, 27550 Main Road, Cutchogue, NY 11935

***

For the past week or so, heavy machinery has dotted the west shoreline of Lake Montauk as several infrastructure projects get underway at once.

Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that the smaller, more under-the-radar project is what East Hampton Town officials call the West Lake Dock Rehabilitation — a $2 million undertaking that seeks to repair the town’s commercial fishing infrastructure at one of its two docks.

Looming over that, literally and figuratively, is dredge Oyster Bay, which arrived last week under a $11.6 million partnership between the federal and local governments. Built to protect oyster beds in the Chesapeake Bay, Oyster Bay is a 144-foot-long barge that, by the end of the operation, will have pumped as much as 150,000 cubic yards of sand. Lake Montauk shoals naturally, and over time this leaves commercial fishermen stranded at sea as they wait for favorable tides — frequently for hours at a time, and sometimes in poor conditions — that allow them to slip into the harbor safely.

A 12-foot emergency operation in February offered a temporary reprieve, but the conditions quickly returned: As the shoaling continued, fishing boats began running close to the bottom of the inlet, often too close for comfort.

The plan all along, 14 years in the making, was to have the emergency operation buy time until fall 2025, when another dredge — that is, Oyster Bay — would arrive to deepen the channel to 17 feet.

So when Oyster Bay arrived in Montauk last week, it was welcome news for those who frequently navigate the inlet, as the dredge began by pumping a slurry of sediment and water onto the west side of the inlet.

As of Monday, Oyster Bay had pumped around 10,000 cubic yards of sand — a fraction of the 150,000 cubic yards planned during the course of what will be a weeks-long operation.

But 10,000 cubic yards of sand over three or four days does not come close to Oyster Bay’s maximum capacity. As the machine hits its stride, it will pump around 10,000 cubic yards of sand per day.

***

As did many folks across the east end yesterday, Sag Harbor residents braved blustery winds and the first freezing temperatures of the year to attend the village’s annual Veterans Day parade and observance on Tuesday morning. Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that a small group of veterans led by a color guard marched from the Civil War Monument at Main and Madison streets to Chelberg & Battle American Legion Post 388 on Bay Street in Sag Harbor. The veterans were joined on their march by members of the American Legion Auxiliary and Sag Harbor Boy Scout Troop 455. Jack Prizzi, the American Legion commander, welcomed the crowd, and Greg Keramis, the senior vice commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post, presided over a short observance. Theresa Labrozzi, an American Legion member who served in the U.S. Navy from 1984 to 1988, was the guest speaker. Labrozzi said she had always wanted to serve in the armed forces, so after graduating from Pierson High School in Sag Harbor, she joined the Navy. “I ended up being shipped all the way to a little rock in the middle of the Bering Sea, only miles from Russia,” she said. The island she referred to is named Adak, and it was once home to a Naval air station and security group. While stationed on Adak, she became an expert shot with both pistol and rifle and was rewarded for that prowess by being assigned duty on what was called “the perch,” where lookouts kept their eyes on Russian “fishing boats” and the occasional submarine that would surface in the area. “It wasn’t exactly the tropical island I dreamed of when I signed up, but it was an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything,” she said. Labrozzi, who said she was proud to have served, concluded, “Enough about me. Today is about all of us to every veteran, enlisted or officer, near or far, past or present. Thank you for your service to our country.”

***

A long-stalled plan to subdivide about 131 acres of industrially zoned land on Route 25 in Calverton was the subject of a Riverhead Planning Board subject hearing last Thursday. The proposal, for property just west of Splish Splash water park, was caught in the Town of Riverhead’s 2023 Calverton building moratorium and zoning overhaul. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the Calverton Industrial Subdivision (OSTAD) would divide the 130.9-acre site into seven lots, three of which would be developable for future industrial uses, while the remaining four would be dedicated to stormwater management, sewage treatment, water infrastructure and open space, according to Riverhead Senior Planner Greg Bergman. After a brief discussion, Chairman Ed Densieski proposed a compromise: “Let’s split the difference — keep it open for 15 days.” The board agreed unanimously, setting Nov. 21 as the deadline for written comments. The applicant is expected to prepare a Final Environmental Impact Statement addressing the planning department’s comments, outside agency responses and public submissions. “This application has been in limbo for nearly two years,” Densieski said after the vote. “We’re glad to see it moving forward again, but we’re going to do it carefully and make sure every issue is addressed before any approvals.”

***

President Donald Trump recently floated two ideas that he said will help Americans combat health care costs and reap the benefits of the nation's widespread use of tariffs. Victor Ocasio reports in NEWSDAY that one proposal is to send Americans $2,000 tariff rebate checks and the other is to divert Affordable Care Act funds from health care insurers directly to Americans as cash payments.

Trump's proposals, which came in two different series of posts on Truth Social this past weekend, have largely been framed as ideas and not formal proposals. On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the president’s idea about health care payments was not a formal proposal and was not being submitted to the Senate at this time.

Local economists said tariff revenue can’t simultaneously be used to pay down the national debt if the same funds are also being given away to Americans as a form of stimulus.

"You can use tariffs to pay down the debt, but if you pay out these dividends, that’s not what you’re doing," said Mariano Torras, an economics professor at Adelphi University and chair of its finance and economics department.

Regional health insurance experts argue that insurers are best equipped to negotiate lower health care costs, not individual patients, so direct cash payments to Long Islanders and Americans broadly wouldn't lower costs for consumers.

"It’s unclear how that could possibly work for the average person," said Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of health initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York, a nonprofit that promotes economic opportunity across New York City and state. "The whole point of insurance companies is they are supposed to bargain on behalf of people to get better deals."

"The way the current system works is if you’re eligible for subsidies under the ACA, you have the option of taking it all at once as a tax rebate when you file your taxes, or, taking the subsidies in advance," which lowers monthly premiums, said Peter Newell, director of the health insurance project for the United Hospital Fund, a Manhattan-based nonprofit pushing for a more equitable health care system.

Newell said by sending funds to Americans first, they would still have to send the money to insurers in the end to cover costs.

And once again, some, like Benjamin, the Community Service Society of New York V.P., said insurers are in a better position to negotiate lower care costs, versus individual Americans.