PMOS drug access reveals systemic health inequities: How gendered metabolic science and pharmaceutical lobbying shape women’s care
Original framing: “Women with PMOS should get subsidised weight loss drugs, advocates say” — The Guardian - World
The trickster here is the **pharmaceutical industry’s** co-opting of patient advocacy to push GLP-1 drugs, a move that mirrors the historical role of trickster figures like **Eshu** (Yoruba) or **Anansi** (Akan), who expose hypocrisy through deception. The industry frames itself as a saviour of women’s health while simultaneously lobbying against regulations that would address the root causes of PMOS—such as corporate agriculture or toxic chemical exposure. Meanwhile, the **TGA’s** slow approval process acts like a **Coyote**-like gatekeeper, delaying access to drugs that may not even be the best solution, all while maintaining the illusion of neutrality. The trickster reading also reveals the absurdity of treating a syndrome with symptoms as broad as PMOS with a one-size-fits-all drug, ignoring the chaos of individual biochemistry and lived experience.
The PMOS drug debate is not just about access to GLP-1 medications but a microcosm of how systemic inequities—rooted in colonialism, neoliberal healthcare, and corporate capture—shape women’s health.
The framing obscures that PMOS is a symptom of broader failures: the medicalisation of women’s bodies without addressing environmental toxins or food insecurity, the erasure of Indigenous knowledge that once sustained metabolic health, and the trickster-like manipulation of patient advocacy by pharmaceutical interests. Solutions must move beyond pills to include decolonised research, regulatory reforms that break pharmaceutical lobbying, and policies that restore ecological and social determinants of health. The path forward lies in centring marginalised voices—Indigenous healers, women of colour, and low-income patients—while dismantling the structures that profit from their suffering. This requires nothing less than a reimagining of metabolic health as a collective, not individual, responsibility.