The High Court has allowed a teenager to challenge an HSE decision refusing to fund Wegovy, a prescription weight-loss medicine costing his mother €450 a month.
The boy, identified only as Tom, is seven feet tall and had been severely overweight. His mother says his weight difficulties are linked to a rare syndrome which a consultant geneticist described as clinically evident. He also has orthopaedic complications, a cardiovascular defect, autism and hyperphagia, described in the evidence as an insatiable hunger.
Tom was prescribed Wegovy in July 2025. The court heard that he has since lost four stone, become less aggressive, regained the ability to use the bathroom independently and resumed exercise.
His mother, a single parent and full-time carer, applied in January 2026 for the drug to be supplied under section 23 of the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013. That provision allows the HSE, at its discretion, to fund an unlisted medicine where it is clinically required and no listed drug is a suitable alternative.
The HSE refused the application on 19 May 2026. The decision referred to an alternative medicine, Saxenda, and also noted the wider implications of making an exception that could affect other patients.
Ms Justice Gearty said the HSE has a broad discretion over public resources and the court cannot substitute its own view on whether the medicine should be funded.
However, she found an arguable issue over whether the HSE considered, ignored or did not receive a March 2022 consultant geneticist’s letter identifying the rare syndrome. That could be material both to the suitability of the proposed alternative drug and to whether the case really had wider implications for many other patients.
The judge granted leave to seek an order quashing the refusal. She did not decide that Tom is entitled to Wegovy funding. That question remains for the full judicial review hearing.