On The Pen covers GLP-1 medications, obesity, and type 2 diabetes — the drug pipeline, access and insurance, the science, and the day-to-day reality of managing a chronic condition. Coverage runs across this site, The Weekly Dose podcast, and a live show, but the perspective is the same everywhere: reported from the patient's side of the exam table, not a pharmaceutical marketing department's.
What we cover
Breaking news on GLP-1 and incretin therapies, FDA actions, drug shortages and supply, pricing and insurance coverage, clinical trial results, and the obesity-medicine landscape more broadly — written to be accurate and useful to someone actually making decisions about their own treatment, not just to generate a headline.
A patient-centered perspective
On The Pen exists because its founder has lived this. That vantage point shapes everything published here: information is explained the way you'd want a knowledgeable friend to explain it, not the way a press release does. News coverage and opinion are kept clearly distinguished from one another — see our editorial process for how that works in practice.
Who's behind it
On The Pen is founded and written by Dave Knapp — the voice behind @manonthemounjaro and @manonmounjaro on X. His own journey with obesity and GLP-1 treatment — covered with a mix of hard information, hard-won personal insight, and the occasional bit of humor — has built a fast-growing audience and drawn coverage from outlets including Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, Fortune, and NPR.
The belief behind the work is simple: everyone has the right to understand their own health and the tools available to manage it. On The Pen tries to close the gap between medical expertise and the everyday experience of living with obesity or type 2 diabetes — one story, one episode, and one conversation at a time.
Our mission
Empowering you to have better conversations with your doctor.
That's it. That's the whole mission. Every piece published here is meant to leave you better equipped for the next conversation with your own doctor — more informed, less alone, and taken seriously.