Charles Barkley says he lost 62 pounds on Mounjaro

Charles Barkley said he lost 62 pounds over about six months while taking Mounjaro, the brand name for tirzepatide ^[1]. He described the regimen in a May 26, 2023, interview on "The Pat McAfee Show," saying he took a weekly shot along with a healthy diet and exercise ^[1]. Business Insider reported his comments on May 31, 2023 ^[1].

Barkley, who was 60 at the time, said he started at 352 pounds and now weighed 290, with a goal of 270 ^[1]. "It's been great, I'm starting to feel like a human being not a fat-ass anymore," he said, adding that his motivation was to live longer ^[1]. He also said he had "zero idea what the hell this drug does," but knew it was working, and that his doctor preferred Mounjaro over Ozempic ^[1].

Mounjaro is the brand name for tirzepatide, a drug designed to treat diabetes ^[1]. Like semaglutide — sold as Ozempic for diabetes and as Wegovy for weight loss — tirzepatide suppresses appetite by acting on a hormone called GLP-1, which controls appetite ^[1]. Tirzepatide differs in that it also acts on another hormone related to insulin, called GIP ^[1].

A clinical trial found that patients lost 20% of their body weight over 16 months while using tirzepatide, but at the time of Barkley's comments the FDA had not approved the drug for weight loss, though it could be used for that purpose off-label ^[1]. According to the report, Barkley did not say whether he was being treated for diabetes, and did not share whether he was overweight or obese before starting the drug ^[1]. His dose, how much he paid and whether insurance covered it have not been reported.

Weight alone does not determine a person's health, Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, said; other factors, including blood pressure and cholesterol levels, give a fuller picture ^[1]. An obesity expert previously told Insider that obesity can be life-threatening and that people with more excess weight, particularly those who are severely obese, have a shorter life expectancy on average ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

Barkley named the molecule he was taking rather than grouping it under the catch-all term Ozempic ^[1]. Ozempic has become a byword for semaglutide regardless of why it is prescribed, and the two drugs are not the same ^[1]. Mounjaro contains tirzepatide and acts on GLP-1 plus GIP; Ozempic and Wegovy contain semaglutide and act on GLP-1 ^[1].

At the time, the regulatory status of the two drugs also differed. Wegovy was sold for weight loss, while tirzepatide had no weight-loss approval from the FDA and was being prescribed off-label for that use ^[1]. That distinction matters to anyone checking what a prescription is approved for, what a label says, and how a doctor describes a treatment.

Barkley's own account mixed enthusiasm with uncertainty about the drug's mechanism, and clinical guidance does not rest on a single person's results ^[1]. The report also notes that a person's weight alone is not a complete measure of health ^[1].

What has not been reported

Barkley has not said whether he continued taking Mounjaro after the interview, whether he reached his 270-pound goal, or what his dose was ^[1]. The report does not include cost, insurance coverage or how long he planned to stay on the drug ^[1]. Whether his doctor's preference for Mounjaro over Ozempic reflects his individual health history has not been disclosed ^[1].