November 29, 2023 — It is time to translate words into action and fix the blind spot in drug trials and labeling for people with obesity. Every major obesity group in the U.S. issued this united call to action on Tuesday. This includes the ASMBS, Obesity Action Coalition, Obesity Medicine, Obesity Society, and STOP Obesity Alliance. It comes as […]
November 20, 2023 — FDA has a bone to pick with Otsuka, the company that sells Rexulti (brexpiprazole). The agency is taking issue with false advertising by the company for this drug used in schizophrenia and severe depression. To us, this problem of inflated efficacy claims is especially noteworthy because, for people with obesity who may need this drug, […]
November 18, 2023 — At a time when nearly half of the U.S. population is living with obesity, this should be an easy question to answer. Obesity clearly causes some forms of cancer and as the prevalence of obesity is rising, patterns of cancer prevalence are shifting, too. So, yes, we should be able to say with great confidence […]
November 9, 2023 — In an era of tremendous change for obesity care, this is certainly a huge milestone. FDA approved tirzepatide for obesity treatment yesterday and put Lilly in the position to offer serious competition to Novo Nordisk. But the question that matters most to us is simple. How will this competition help people seeking to cope with […]
November 8, 2023 — Public health experts have long been accounting for it. People are living in larger bodies. Better than 40% of U.S. adults have a body weight in the range of obesity. But new reporting from JoNel Aleccia for the Associated Press tells us that pharma and the FDA are not yet accounting for this fact. It’s […]
November 4, 2023 — It only took half a century. Back in 1970, the FDA decided that brominated vegetable oil could no longer have GRAS – generally recognized as safe – status. This week the agency announced it plans to ban this additive to many citrus flavored drinks. The long goodbye to brominated vegetable oil (BVO) will not be […]
October 17, 2023 — “You’re either invisible, or the answer is to lose weight, even with mental health.” This is the sentiment that surfaced at OW2023 in research of lived experiences from people coping with both obesity and needing treatment for mental health concerns. It becomes acutely important as we learn that drug trials for conditions other than obesity […]
September 29, 2023 — In case you haven’t been paying attention, FDA issued a new label warning for semaglutide that should remind everyone of a key fact – it’s not suitable for DIY weight loss. The warning went onto the label for the Ozempic brand of semaglutide. It is already there for the Wegovy brand and for the Mounjaro […]
August 31, 2023 — It is hard to believe. But a new commentary in Health Affairs Forefront tells us once again that drug labeling fails to assure safe and effective use for many important drugs by people with obesity. These are drugs for conditions other than obesity. But people with obesity may represent half or more of the people […]
August 7, 2023 — The headlines are great. “Pecans: the surprising superfood for obesity prevention and wellness” says one. “Pecans pack a punch in fighting obesity, diabetes and inflammation” according to another. All this magical thinking about pecans comes from a study of mice on a high-fat diet. What does this mean for humans? Mainly it means that the […]
