Food and Drug Administration

Obesity is among the world’s most common health conditions, but for years medicine had few effective approaches to offer short of surgery. That’s why there’s been so much excitement about a new class of drugs that’s helping patients shed dozens of pounds at far lower risk — and generating billions in revenue for pharmaceutical companies. The mania over these drugs is drawing responses from businesses as varied as airlines, dialysis centers and big box chains, sending stock markets into a frenzy. Novo Nordisk A/S’s Ozempic was publicized by Hollywood, where it also became a punchline, and now Eli Lilly &…