I read the OP's observation to be "they need to take it for life - and not treat it as a short term fix" but people talk about it as a short term fix.
Some medication, like Tylenol, is short term. You take it for a headache, and then move on. Other medication, like Adderall, you take for life. Everyday, you take it to manage ADD.
OP is arguing that appetite suppressor are a "take everyday for life, and stop talking about it as though it is a short term fix"
--- For my part, I know 3 people on appetite suppressors. 1 person lost a lot of weight, and then stopped recently - it is too soon to know if she "relapsed". 1 person lost a lot and will "stop taking it in 2 months". 1 person recently started taking it.
In my experience, people do talk about it like a short term fix. Should they take it for life? I'm not equipped to have an opinion just yet.
I used to be fit and healthy, but then some things happened, and now I need a jumpstart to get to a lower weight to where I can resume doing physical activities and resume a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Now this does get a bit more complex when you consider the nontrivial financial cost to someone without insurance or who's insurance does not cover their intended use.
Imagine if the headline was
"people who come off statins have higher cholesterol levels than people who lowered cholesterol with diet and exercise."
That's obviously stupid, so why are we treating GLP-1s differently?
I also hear people say things like "GLP-1s shouldn't exist because you'll gain weight when you go off them" which is as nonsensical (to me) as saying "you shouldn't exercise because the benefits of exercise will stop if you don't continue exercising."
It's only GLP-1s that have this "moralizing" associated with them.
"people who come off vaccinations still don't get sick, compared to those who continue taking vaccines"
You have a strong bias towards thinking GLP-1 behaves like a statin rather than a personality altering drug (or a vaccine, or nicotine patches.) Please provide a basis for this bias.
We're not treating GLP-1 different because it's a different thing. We're treating it differently, because we don't know if it's an analogous thing without this type of study.
The conclusion isn't at all obvious so there's no "duh" moment. Why would you gain back the weight that much faster if you lost it with this pill vs. that pill?