Trump’s rumored housing order would be ‘game-changer,’ top Republican says
EXCLUSIVE: One of the House GOP’s staunchest housing affordability advocates is calling President Donald Trump’s rumored emergency order on the issue a “game-changer.”
House Main Street Caucus Chair Mike Flood, R-Neb., who also chairs the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee on the House Financial Services Committee, told Fox News Digital that he is hoping Trump ultimately follows through on declaring an emergency on housing affordability.
“When you have a housing shortage and a supply issue, it pushes up valuations, which pushes up your property taxes, because your valuation goes up. It pushes up home insurance premiums because the value of your home is more expensive if there was some kind of a claim,” Flood explained.
“So the president of the United States putting his thumb on the scale and saying that housing is in a crisis situation, and it’s an emergency – that changes the entire conversation.”
HOUSE MOVES TO EXPOSE EPSTEIN FILES, AUTHORIZES OVERSIGHT PROBE
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner told FOX Business on Tuesday that talks were ongoing on the issue but declined to make any firm declarations ahead of Trump.
“Those discussions are being had, not just from an emergency declaration standpoint, but what can we do in order to bring the costs down… and bring the supply up,” Turner said.
Home prices have skyrocketed in recent years, outpacing wage growth and making small houses that were once considered “starters” for young families out of reach for millions of Americans.
Zoning restrictions, high building costs, regulatory issues and insufficient levels of new construction have all been named as reasons for the current crisis.
Additionally, new tariffs on materials like steel, aluminum and lumber are projected to add about $10,900 to the cost of building a new single-family home, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
“It’s going to take the federal government, the state governments and the municipalities, most notably, to fix this,” Flood said.
He added that his panel was also working on bipartisan legislation, expected in October or November, to make housing more affordable nationwide.
“We have been working in our subcommittee and on Financial Services on our effort that will, I think, take a few steps forward, and hope to mark that up later this year in maybe October, November,” Flood said. “But the president coming in and making this a priority is what’s going to push this at light speed across the finish line.”
He added: “I truly think we can get something done by June of next year.”
GOP GOVERNOR NOMINEE PUSHES REDISTRICTING TO OUST STATE’S LONE HOUSE DEM
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Flood also stressed that housing affordability is a key election issue for Americans.
“Since 2020, we’ve seen 20% inflation, home insurance premiums are more expensive, mortgage rates are higher. You know, you’ve got all these rules in the federal programs that make it nearly impossible to be really effective with the assistance that HUD provides,” Flood said.
“And with the president doubling down on an issue that I am very passionate about, I think that this is going to resonate with Americans, because this is what people are talking about.”
Father whose daughter was killed by illegal migrant sends chilling message to Pritzker
An Illinois father grieving the loss of his daughter is blaming Gov. JB Pritzker’s migrant policies, saying they led to devastating consequences.
“My daughter was taken. We are separated, I will never see her again,” Joe Abraham said Tuesday on “Fox & Friends,” describing the loss of his 20-year-old daughter, Katie.
“She got death; I got a life-sentence.”
Katie Abraham and a friend were waiting at a stoplight in January 2025 when police say their car was struck at high speed by a Guatemalan man in the U.S. illegally. Authorities said he was suspected of drunk driving. Katie died at the scene, while her friend later died at a nearby hospital.
MULTIPLE FATAL CRASHES LINKED TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS SPARK ARRESTS ACROSS US IN RECENT DAYS
Now, Abraham and his family are demanding tougher action from state leaders. He criticized Pritzker’s silence on the case, calling it “deafening.”
In response, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said it is ramping up arrests of criminal migrants in Illinois. Federal officials said the raids are being carried out in Katie’s memory.
“Every day, the men and women of ICE and the other federal partners that are with us in Chicago, we honor Katie by going out there and getting these criminal aliens off the street,” Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said on “Fox & Friends.”
In a statement on X, the Department of Homeland Security linked its Illinois operations to the state’s sanctuary policies, arguing they allowed criminal migrants to roam the streets.
NOEM, IN ILLINOIS, CALLS OUT GOV. PRITZKER, CHICAGO’S MAYOR OVER THEIR HANDLING OF CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Pritzker denied those claims, accusing federal authorities of using the operation to instill fear in the community rather than reduce crime. Pritzker wrote on X:
“Instead of taking steps to work with us on public safety, the Trump Administration’s focused on scaring Illinoisians.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson made similar arguments, saying the city received “no notice of any enhanced immigration action by the Trump administration” and that he remains opposed to ICE’s actions over due process concerns.
ILLINOIS CORONER RELEASES NEW DETAILS ABOUT WOMAN FOUND DEAD ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT’S PROPERTY
He also raised concerns about ICE’s history, saying the agency in the past wrongfully detained American citizens and violated their rights.
Abraham rejected those arguments, saying that with a proper immigration system, the migrant who killed his daughter could have been filtered out, and his child might still be alive.
While state and federal leaders continue to fight over immigration policy, Lyons said ICE remains committed to operations in Chicago and across the country.
“We are out there arresting criminal aliens, known suspected terrorists and gang members that are ruining our community,” Lyons said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“The men and women of ICE are [going to] stay in Chicago, and we’re [going to] stay at all the major cities across the United States to ensure that we remove this public safety threat from our neighborhoods.”
Cruise passenger leaps off ship to allegedly avoid paying $16,710 gambling debt
A man accused of owing a cruise line nearly $17,000 in gambling debt allegedly jumped off a ship to avoid paying.
Jey Gonzalez-Diaz, who was booked under the passenger name of “Jeremy Diaz,” was detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers around 9:45 a.m. Sunday near the Port of San Juan, after he allegedly jumped off Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas during disembarkation, according to a criminal complaint.
Security footage shows Gonzalez-Diaz being brought to shore by two passing Jet Skis.
CBP officers said they found $14,600 in U.S. currency, one backpack, one handbag, two mobile devices and five identification documents in Gonzalez-Diaz’s possession.
MIAMI SAILBOAT CRASH SURVIVOR ‘STARED DEATH IN THE FACE,’ LAWYER SAYS
When asked why he jumped off the ship, he allegedly told officers in Spanish, that he “did not want to report the currency on his possession because he thought he was going to be taxed duties for bring in the currency,” the complaint states.
The cruise line told investigators that Gonzalez-Diaz “had a $16,710.24 debt” that “was almost exclusively associated to Casino and Gaming expenses.”
CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE’S ‘NEW EXCLUSIVE DESTINATION’ OPENS
The cruise left the Port of San Juan on August 31 before returning on September 7.
According to the court filing, when Gonzalez-Diaz was asked by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents for his full name, he said, “If you guys were good at your job, you would know that.” He then refused to speak with HSI agents further, prosecutors said.
Three of the identification documents that officers recovered had the name “Jeremy Diaz,” which the suspect later told investigators was his brother’s name. Two additional documents had the name “Jey Xander Omar Gonzalez Diaz.”
Gonzalez-Diaz’s brother has been in federal custody since January 2025 at the Metropolitan Detention Center Guaynabo, authorities said.
Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
---|---|---|---|---|
RCL | ROYAL CARIBBEAN GROUP | 332.63 | -12.63 | -3.66% |
Gonzalez-Diaz faces fines up to $250,000, up to five years in prison or both.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
When contacted by FOX Business, a Royal Caribbean spokesperson said that due to the matter being part of an ongoing investigation, they “are working with authorities and don’t have any more information to share.”
Congress rattled by video showing missile strike on orb that would not break
A House hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) stunned lawmakers when video evidence showed a U.S. drone firing a Hellfire missile at an orb off Yemen—only for the object to remain intact and keep moving, raising urgent questions about technology beyond known military capabilities.
At a House Oversight subcommittee meeting on UFO transparency and whistleblower protection, Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., unveiled the video.
The footage showed an MQ-9 drone tracking a UAP orb as another MQ-9 launched a Hellfire missile at it. The missile struck the orb, but instead of destroying it, the round appeared to “bounce right off.”
“That’s a Hellfire missile smacking into that UFO and [it] just bounced right off, and it kept going,” journalist George Knapp said. “There are servers where there’s a whole bank of these kind of videos that Congress has not been allowed to see.”
HOUSE WITNESS TESTIFIES UFOS NEARLY ACTIVATED RUSSIAN NUCLEAR MISSILES DURING 1982 INCIDENT
Lawmakers and witnesses stressed that no known U.S. technology could withstand a Hellfire strike.
“Are you aware of anything in the U.S. arsenal that can split a Hellfire missile like this…and do whatever blob thing it did, and then keep going?” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., asked each witness.
Nuccetelli and Wiggins testified that no U.S. technology is capable of surviving such a strike.
UFO MANIA GRIPS SMALL TOWN AFTER MYSTERIOUS GLOWING OBJECT SIGHTING GOES VIRAL
Asked if the video frightened them, all three – Nuccetelli, Wiggins and U.S. Air Force Veteran Dylan Borland – answered “yes.”
Beyond the Hellfire video, witnesses also shared their own UAP encounters.
JD VANCE SAYS HE’S ‘OBSESSED’ WITH EERIE UFO VIDEOS
Nuccetelli described the “Vandenberg Red Square,” a 2003 incident at what is now Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. At the time, it was still an Air Force installation.
He recalled hearing chaos unfold over the radio. His friend screamed, “It’s coming right at us! It’s coming right for us!” Just moments later, he said he heard them say the object “shot off and was done.”
Wiggins also recalled a “Tic Tac” encounter, noting the craft showed no “conventional propulsion signatures” as it left.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Though the origins remain unknown, lawmakers pressed for answers, demanding greater transparency on UAPs.
Tennis beauty reveals player who ‘thinks too much of himself’ after DM pursuit
Russian tennis star Anna Kalinskaya is pursuing her first Grand Slam singles title of her career while other players on the men’s circuit appear to be going after her.
Kalinskaya, 26, appeared in an interview on Tuesday and said Danish tennis player Holger Rune was one of a few who had frequented her social media direct messages.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
She said on “First&Red” that she ignored Rune because he “thinks too much of himself.”
“Tennis players — more often before,” she said of who asks her on dates. “Now I’m older. I don’t know, for some, it’s just no chance at all. No need to write. Someone wrote like 10 times and then gave up.
“I’ll say it now, but Holger Rune. He writes to everyone. He deserves all this. Thinks too much of himself. But he’s not the only one. A couple (more).”
TRUMP SIGNS AUTOGRAPHS FOR TENNIS FANS BEFORE LEAVING US OPEN
Rune replied to the clip that took social media by storm.
“Ha ha ha. We might have cultural differences that make Anna read a comment on a story as an invitation to a date,” he wrote on X. “if I want to go on a date, I ask for a date . Don’t worry.”
Kalinskaya, who previously dated Italy’s Jannik Sinner, has one singles title to her name and four doubles titles. The Grand Slam circuit was a bit of a struggle for her this year.
She didn’t compete in the Australian Open and was ousted in the first round of the French Open. She made it to the second round at Wimbledon and was bounced in the third round from the U.S. Open. The furthest she’s ever gotten at a Grand Slam was the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2024.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Kalinskaya is ranked No. 32 in the world.
Former Trump officials warn ‘your neighborhood is next’ in Democrats’ housing agenda
Why doesn’t Hermes just produce more bags and then everyone can have a Birkin? That’s basically the argument of people pressing President Donald Trump to declare a housing emergency.
The fact is there’s plenty of housing, just not in the most desirable neighborhoods. Population growth is slowing, deportations are increasing and new home construction already outpaces family creation. The shortage is a myth created by activists so they can force residential living patterns to conform to DEI dogma.
A simple calculation proves it. The Census Bureau collects annual data on both the number of households and the available housing stock. The latest data shows 131.3 million households and 146.5 million housing units, an excess supply of over 15 million units.
Activists cannot deny the excess so instead, they argue that it is not enough.
BLAME DRUGS AND MENTAL ILLNESS, NOT PRESIDENT TRUMP, FOR THE CHAOS GRIPPING OUR STREETS
A well-functioning housing market has a natural vacancy rate. Just as labor markets need unemployment for efficient job matching, housing markets need vacancies for buyer-seller alignment, renovations and seasonal use.
Activists say that rate should be 12% instead of the current 10%, and to hit that target an additional 1 million units are needed. But they are cherry-picking the baseline rate. Census data tracked since 1965 shows vacancy rates have fluctuated wildly, ranging from 8.3% to 14.5%. There is no stable “natural rate.” Today’s 10% rate falls well within this historical range. When you stop using artificially high assumptions, the shortage disappears entirely.
Perhaps anticipating this, activists also argue that demand is higher than census data shows. First, they claim construction has fallen behind historical trends, from 1.5 million units annually in 1968-2000 to 1.23 million since 2001, creating a cumulative deficit. Second, they argue for massive pent-up demand, claiming millions of people would form separate households if housing were cheaper, using statistical models to estimate 3-5 million “missing” households.
HERE’S WHY HELPING THE HOMELESS REBUILD THEIR LIVES IS KEY TO AMERICA’S FUTURE SUCCESS
Both arguments assume demographic conditions that no longer exist. America has transitioned from rapid population growth of over 1% annually before 2000 to a more stable 0.5% today, projected to reach 0.1% by 2055. The next 30 years will add 23 million people versus 70 million in the prior 30 years, reflecting lower birth rates and longer lifespans. Deaths will exceed births by 2038 as the population matures. Meanwhile, the current administration targets deporting one million people annually, a figure not included in Census projections that assume stable immigration.
Like Birkin bags, the real problem isn’t supply, it’s that people want exclusive neighborhoods, and no amount of construction changes that reality. What’s really going on here is that activists are manufacturing a housing crisis in order to impose a DEI regime on where people choose to live.
This is a corruption of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), which was focused on equality of opportunity not results. The bill did aim to disrupt segregated living patterns but only through the narrow mechanism of eliminating overt housing discrimination. In particular, restrictive covenants, redlining and explicit racial barriers.
TRUMP IS TRYING TO SAVE 100,000 AMERICAN LIVES WHILE DEMOCRATS LET CITIES SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL
As the legislative history records, the goal was to ensure families could live “where they wish ,” acknowledging that financial capacity remained a valid constraint on housing choice.
Today’s activists have abandoned that sensible framework. Instead, they want to eliminate disparities in living patterns by lowering community standards through government coercion. Their chief target is local zoning laws, which serve the important function of maintaining community character. It’s why Washington, D.C., which bans skyscrapers, doesn’t look like Manhattan.
New York City’s Economic Development Corporation exemplifies this approach, scolding neighborhoods like the Upper East Side, SoHo and the West Village for “restrictive land use regulations” that limit density. They explicitly note that “Community Districts producing the least affordable housing are disproportionately white.” Their demographic focus reveals the true agenda.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION
The Obama administration weaponized this logic through HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, forcing towns that accepted federal funding to eliminate zoning laws and to provide detailed reports on racial demographics. The effort had an important political dimension. By forcing high-density, low-income housing into suburban communities, activists aimed to flip red areas blue.
President Trump recognized the stakes in his first term, and tasked a White House team led by John McEntee to eliminate the rule, which they did in 14 days. Biden reinstated it, but HUD Secretary Scott Turner wisely eliminated it again soon after taking office.
Unfortunately, some Republicans and Libertarians have fallen for the housing shortage hoax and still don’t realize that eliminating sensible neighborhood standards like zoning are a stalking horse for imposing DEI quotas. This is a problem because housing activists continue to push their radical agenda aggressively at the state level.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
In 2021, Massachusetts passed a controversial law forcing the 177 towns along the commuter rail line to change their suburban zoning laws to permit high-density low-income housing. The bill was drafted to look optional and incentive-based, but officials are enforcing it as mandatory. Similar efforts are afoot nationwide, amplified by liberal columnists like Paul Krugman calling for “increasing population density,” meaning eliminating suburban single-family zoning.
Democrats have brought DEI quotas to every institution in America. Your neighborhood is next. That’s the real housing crisis.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM DANIEL HUFF
Harris lashes out at White House staff despite years of hiding Biden’s mental decline
Former Vice President Kamala Harris admits that former President Joe Biden got “tired” while in office, but she insists there was no “big conspiracy” to cover up his decline.
Harris made the claims in a newly released excerpt from her upcoming book, “107 Days,” which details her experience running for president with frequent throwbacks to her time as number two in the White House. The excerpt, published by The Atlantic, focuses on her relationship with Biden and her frustration with how she was treated in the Biden-Harris administration.
“Many people want to spin up a narrative of some big conspiracy at the White House to hide Joe Biden’s infirmity. Here is the truth as I lived it. Joe Biden was a smart guy with long experience and deep conviction, able to discharge the duties of president,” Harris wrote. “On his worst day, he was more deeply knowledgeable, more capable of exercising judgment, and far more compassionate than Donald Trump on his best. But at 81, Joe got tired.”
“That’s when his age showed in physical and verbal stumbles. I don’t think it’s any surprise that the debate debacle happened right after two back-to-back trips to Europe a flight to the West Coast for a Hollywood fundraiser. I don’t believe it was incapacity. If I believed that, I would have said so. As loyal as I am to President Biden, I am more loyal to my country,” she added.
BIDEN FAMILY MISLED PUBLIC, CONCEALED DETAILS ON SON BEAU’S CANCER DIAGNOSIS, NEW BOOK SAYS
Harris went on to complain that Biden’s staff didn’t give her the support she felt was necessary as vice president, on issues from foreign policy to illegal immigration.
She complained that getting the White House press office, including then-press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, to defend her was “almost impossible.”
“Worse, I often learned that the president’s staff was adding fuel to negative narratives that sprang up around me. One narrative that took a stubborn hold was that I had a ‘chaotic’ office and unusually high staff turnover during my first year,” Harris wrote, going on to say that some people just can’t hack it in a White House role.
YOUNG DEMS BLAME BIDEN AND THEIR OWN PARTY FOR LOSING IN 2024 AS THEY DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM THE OLD-GUARD
“Their thinking was zero-sum: If she’s shining, he’s dimmed. None of them grasped that if I did well, he did well,” she added regarding Biden’s staff. “That given the concerns about his age, my visible success as his vice president was vital. It would serve as a testament to his judgment in choosing me and reassurance that if something happened, the country was in good hands. My success was important for him.
TRUMP REVOKES KAMALA HARRIS’ SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION, SPOKESPERSON SAYS
The former vice president also said Democrats across the board should have been more aggressive in pushing Biden not to run, saying it was “reckless” to leave the decision in his hands for so long.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“‘It’s Joe and Jill’s decision.’ We all said that, like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized. Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness. The stakes were simply too high. This wasn’t a choice that should have been left to an individual’s ego, an individual’s ambition. It should have been more than a personal decision,” Harris wrote.
Creepy selfies recovered from Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger’s phone revealed
Idaho student killer Bryan Kohberger posed around his Washington State University apartment making faces at his phone camera, creepy newly released selfies show.
Wearing cordless headphones and standing in front of a closet full of blue shirts, the bare-chested Kohberger salutes the camera in a selfie, showing a cut on one of his knuckles.
In another, he’s making a contorted face, revealing a row of yellow teeth as he grins.
BRYAN KOHBERGER’S APARTMENT, ESSAYS REVEALED IN HUNDREDS OF PHOTOS RELEASED BY IDAHO POLICE
And in a third, the gaunt 30-year-old killer flexes, purses his lips and squints.
The images, first published by NewsNation, were recovered from Kohberger’s phone after his arrest on Dec. 30, 2022, at his parents’ house in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania. Digital forensics experts dug through it, looking for his search activity, contacts and other data to help police build their case against him.
IDAHO POLICE RELEASE INVESTIGATION PHOTOS OF KOHBERGER’S CAR AND CRIME SCENE WHERE FOUR STUDENTS DIED
Jared and Heather Barnhart, from the digital forensics firm Cellebrite, previously described the images in an interview with Fox News Digital.
“I watched ‘American Psycho’ back in the day, and how vain he was, where he would always take like naked photos of himself flexing, similar to that, like with him just in pants, but topless from the waist up, flexing [in] a mirror forward, backward, making different expressions, but just for himself,” said Heather Barnhart, the senior director of forensics research at Cellebrite. “It was like he admired his body.”
Even more odd, he didn’t share his many pictures with anyone, said her husband, Jared Barnhart.
BRYAN KOHBERGER CALLED HIS MOM WHILE RETURNING TO IDAHO MURDER SCENE THE NEXT DAY, EXPERT REVEALS
“He takes his shirt off, flexes his muscles, and takes a picture of himself, and then just goes back to whatever he was doing before,” he told Fox News Digital. “Nonsense.”
While the Barnharts did not have the authority to share the photos, they described them as “narcissistic” and strange. He even took photos at bizarre angles, highlighting himself from behind and in profile.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Kohberger pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one of felony burglary last month.
He is serving four-consecutive life sentences, plus another 10 years, for the murders of University of Idaho students Xana Kernodle, 20, Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21.
The plea deal required him to waive his right to appeal and his right to seek a sentence reduction.
Famed surgeon urges everyone to take microdoses of popular weight loss drug
They may have gained popularity for diabetes and weight loss, but GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy have been linked to ever-expanding health benefits.
In fact, some doctors — including Dr. Terry Dubrow, a plastic surgeon and TV personality based in Newport Beach, California — recommend that everyone takes a low daily dose, even if they don’t need to lose weight.
Dubrow spoke on camera with Fox News Digital about the benefits of “microdosing” these medications. (See the video at the top of this article.)
How GLP-1s work
GLP-1 receptor agonists work by mimicking a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1, which is released from the gut after eating.
The drugs help to regulate blood sugar, slow down emptying of the stomach and diminish appetite, and have also been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease.
“Sugar’s the enemy, and these drugs affect sugar in your blood,” Dubrow told Fox News Digital. “They affect the way insulin reacts.”
GLP-1s help insulin move the glucose (sugar) out of the bloodstream and into the body’s cells, where it can be used for energy or stored, the doctor said. The drugs also help to prevent the inflammation and damage sugar can cause in the blood vessels, nerves and organs.
‘NEXT OZEMPIC’ AIMS TO DELIVER 30% WEIGHT LOSS WITH FEWER SIDE EFFECTS
“I don’t think anyone would argue that if there was a way to manipulate the amount of sugar and inflammation your body’s exposed to, that is something we want to lean into. And that’s exactly what these drugs do,” Dubrow added.
In addition to regulating blood sugar and triggering weight loss, GLP-1s have also been approved to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events and kidney disease in certain patients.
“I have never seen a drug in the history of medicine be on such a rapid path to approval.”
“Even if you’re not overweight, being on these GLP-1 drugs … helps to minimize and prevent a repeat recurrent heart attack,” Dubrow said.
Semaglutide was also recently approved for MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis), an inflammatory form of fatty liver disease.
GLP-1s are also being studied for potential cognitive benefits in Parkinson’s patients.
“I have never seen a drug in the history of medicine be on such a rapid path to approval,” Dubrow said.
The case for microdosing
Along with other experts, Dubrow is an advocate for microdosing, which is where people take low, steady doses of GLP-1s every day, even if they don’t need them for diabetes or obesity.
While patients with diabetes take doses that increase every four weeks, microdosing entails using a low-level dose that doesn’t go up.
WEIGHT LOSS TOUGHER WITH ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS LURKING IN NEARLY EVERY MEAL, SAY EXPERTS
A younger population on TikTok has zeroed in on microdosing, Dubrow pointed out — and he thinks everyone should be doing it.
“I am obsessed with the concept of microdosing,” he said. “I think maybe half the starting dose for diabetes is the way to go — and you probably don’t need it every seven days, it’s probably every 10 days, just to sort of modulate the amount of sugar in the blood.”
The doctor noted that there are still a lot of unknowns with GLP-1 medications.
“We are just figuring out now how to use these drugs for different indications, for different reasons,” he said. “We’re learning as we’re using it.”
“I am obsessed with the concept of microdosing.”
As with other drugs, like Botox, Dubrow said there is a bit of “human experimentation” at play.
“We’re figuring it out, and we’re teaching the medical profession how to do it. The patients are telling us how to use these drugs.”
Potential risks
GLP-1 medications have been linked to several potential risks. The most prevalent is gastrointestinal issues, such as nausea and vomiting.
Others have reported an increased risk of pancreatitis, muscle loss and thyroid tumors.
“I read every study that comes out on these drugs, and I can tell you, it’s very clear they don’t cause pancreatitas,” Dubrow said.
OZEMPIC PUSH FOR SENIORS? SOME DOCTORS SAY MORE PEOPLE AGE 65 AND OVER SHOULD BE ON IT
“In fact, if you really look at the populations who have been using it, pancreatitis is less in those populations.”
Dubrow confirmed, however, that the drug has been linked to an increased risk of the very rare medullary cancer of the thyroid.
“If you have a family history of that, that’s a contraindication to you using these drugs,” he said.
Regarding the digestive side effects, the doctor said the medications do slow down the GI tract, but it’s been shown that the body adjusts to that over time.
“These particular drugs are natural hormones that occur in our small intestine, and you get used to the side effects. They go away.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The severity of side effects is linked to the dose amount, Dubrow noted.
“The low dose, particularly the microdose, really has a low propensity toward the constipation, the nausea, the potential diarrhea, the GERD (reflux),” he said. “I think those side effects are less significant for people who microdose.”
To counteract the risk of muscle loss, Dubrow recommends increasing protein intake and incorporating resistance training as a core component of an exercise routine.
Those who do experience severe side effects should talk to a doctor, he advised.
Drugmakers weigh in
When contacted by Fox News Digital, manufacturers of GLP-1 medications warned against microdosing the products.
“Lilly does not have any data on the benefits or risks of microdosing of Zepbound and Mounjaro,” said a spokesperson for Eli Lilly, maker of the GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbounda. “Both autoinjectors and Zepbound vials are approved for single-use only — dose-splitting or ‘microdosing’ is not contemplated by the FDA label. As such, off-label use of Zepbound and Mounjaro may pose patient safety risks.”
“Off-label use of Zepbound and Mounjaro may pose patient safety risks.”
Novo Nordisk, maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, said it does not condone “misuse” of its products.
“It’s important to understand that for Wegovy, only the marked doses on the single-use, fixed-dose pens (0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 1.7 and 2.4 mg) are approved for use and represent an authentic FDA-approved medicine,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “The starting dose of Wegovy® is 0.25 mg once a week, and the dose will gradually increase every four weeks. Patients should work with their healthcare professional to select either 1.7 mg or 2.4 mg for the maintenance dose.”
CHEAP OZEMPIC KNOCK-OFFS HAVE RISEN IN POPULARITY
“It is also important to note that the authentic Wegovy injectable pen is designed as a single-use pen, the dose is already set, and should not be altered or tampered with, and the pen must be disposed after one use.”
“Ozempic is a multi-use pen with one pen and multiple needles,” the spokesperson added.
Accessing GLP-1s
Dubrow said he’s not concerned about supply issues amid the growing popularity of GLP-1s, as major drug companies have the resources to “scale up” to meet the demand.
Off-label use of GLP-1s, such as for microdosing, is common, Dubrow said — “but finding a doctor willing to prescribe can be difficult.”
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
The doctor cautioned against buying these drugs from online marketplaces, which he referred to as the “wild wild west.”
“It’s hard to find these drugs online from compounding pharmacies, because essentially they’re going rogue — it’s illegal. They’re not allow to do it,” he warned.
“These drugs are natural hormones that occur in our small intestine, and you get used to the side effects.”
“So if you’re getting it from rogue pharmacies that aren’t allowed to do it or are willing to bend the rules, what is it? You don’t know what you’re getting.”
“It may be an adulterated, weird version that has side effects or that’s not effective.”
Looking ahead
There are several next-generation drugs in development that combine multiple hormone pathways, Dubrow said.
“I predict within five years, we’ll have a pill … designed to manipulate hunger and insulin resistance,” he predicted.
Overall, Dubrow said, GLP-1s are “here to stay.”
“They’re just going to get better, and we’re going to learn how to use them in a more appropriate and clinically effective way,” he said. “So fasten your seatbelt. If you’re not on them now, you will be later.”