Well-timed for this mania, Johann Hari’s “Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs” aims to help readers clarify whether they should take the plunge. His central contention, that “Ozempic and its successors look set to become one of the iconic and defining drugs of our time, on a par with the contraceptive pill and Prozac,” seems almost unarguable. But his conclusion on whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is mixed: “If you want a book uncritically championing these drugs, or alternatively a book damning them, I am afraid I can’t give it to you.”
