December 7, 2025 — It seems that everywhere we turn, we hear another story about ubiquitous exposure to PFAS – a class of endocrine disrupting chemicals that shows up in water, food, drugs, cosmetics, clothing, and household items. It is part of “pollution’s hidden weight in the obesity epidemic.” This perspective comes from a recent comprehensive examination in Current […]
September 6, 2025 — The short supply, high prices, and despicable insurance restrictions for advanced obesity medicines have created many problems. For example, compounding of these medicines has been and continues to be controversial – for good reasons. Now, FDA is recognizing one of the most pernicious threats to emerge from this situation – sketchy sellers of “research” peptides. […]
November 6, 2023 — It is frustrating. The list price of Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is more than a thousand dollars per month. Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) negotiate costs for this drug that brings the average cost down to an estimated $215, but many folks get stuck paying the full list price, forgoing treatment, or paying a copay that might exceed […]
October 24, 2023 — We have grown tired of the mindless repetition of a $1,350 monthly list price for Wegovy in endless news reports about the great expense of this very important new drug for obesity. Not because the drug isn’t expensive. But because that list price is not an accurate representation of what the drug really costs. So […]
January 7, 2023 — Who knew that FTC could be a source of support for scientific rigor? Well, late in December the agency issued new guidance – its first in 25 years – clarifying the standards it requires for businesses making health claims about their products. In this new guidance, FTC makes a clear call for RCTs (randomized controlled […]
January 14, 2022 — FDA announced yesterday that it is revoking the standard of identity for French dressing. That means food makers can now put any otherwise legal ingredients into a bottle and call it French dressing. To some people, this is obviously trivial news. So what if the FDA no longer cares too much about what goes into French salad […]
August 12, 2021 — Who would have guessed that makeup might contribute to making us fat? A new report in Environmental Science and Technology Letters gives us pause. The authors find that chemicals known as PFAS are present in more than half of a sample of 231 cosmetics they tested. PFAS is short for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. They’ve […]
March 4, 2021 — Today is World Obesity Day and this day of global attention presents a basic question. Are we all about the problem? Or in the spirit of OCW2021, can we turn up the volume on solutions? Preferably solutions that are actually helpful. Because frankly, the world’s attention span is short. For too long, the world has […]
May 4, 2020 — We’re learning a lot about health scams. When people feel scared and desperate, promises of a “game-changer” for a dread disease (e.g., COVID-19) can arouse passions. But an objective look at actual evidence brings the truth into view. Then the scam becomes a mess for people who fell for it. That experience should be instructive […]
February 2, 2020 — We’re nearing the end of diet season, but permanent weight loss puffery isn’t going anywhere. It used to be that promising permanent weight loss would land you in trouble with the FTC. But somehow, the upstart Noom is making a business of it. Much to the dismay of WW International (formerly Weight Watchers), the Noom […]
