November 28, 2020 — This is the ultimate Friday news dump. FDA approved a highly innovative, highly targeted treatment for obesity – setmelanotide – Wednesday night. Just before a four-day holiday. The company announced in on Friday – timing one would typically choose for news they want to hide. But this is really good news for the treatment of […]
March 23, 2019 — It’s great to have new options for obesity meds. Since 2010, FDA has approved four of them. But the fact is that the mainstay of obesity meds is still something that’s older than dirt – phentermine. And new data suggests that it can work safely and effectively when used as a chronic med for this […]
February 7, 2019 — Why does bariatric surgery have such a profound effect on diabetes? It’s more than you might expect simply from the effects on weight. A large portion of patients with diabetes and obesity have remissions after surgery. Even before they lose much weight. New research in Cell Reports this week points to GLP-1 secretion as a […]
November 10, 2018 — ObesityWeek 2018 comes just as we are starting to see serious innovation in obesity drugs at long last. After a few flashy launches that went nowhere, we’re seeing more solid progress from Novo Nordisk and even Eisai. Obesity medicine physicians are bringing obesity meds into comprehensive care for obesity. And some exciting new drugs are […]
August 17, 2018 — We’ve been waiting for this. More than a year ago, Novo Nordisk announced very encouraging early results with semaglutide for obesity. It’s one thing to read a press release. But it means a lot more to read the detailed results in a top tier journal. Today, we have that publication. Detailed Efficacy Data in Lancet […]
September 25, 2016 — Why is it so difficult for a person with obesity to find evidence-based care from a knowledgeable physician? For insight, read the moral code for obesity care presented by Gordon Schiff in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Schiff advises for exclusive reliance on prescriptions of diet and exercise. He recommends […]
June 29, 2016 — Late yesterday, expert advisors to the FDA voted by a margin of 12-11 that the diabetes drug Jardiance (emagliflozin) does indeed cut the risk of cardiovascular deaths for patients with type 2 diabetes who have a history of cardiovascular disease. The committee was unanimous in its agreement that the drug offers good cardiovascular safety. But […]
June 26, 2016 — Obesity medicine physician Ethan Lazarus explained to healthcare professionals in Philadelphia Friday how little he needed to know about treating obesity when recently renewing his board certification in Family Medicine. When necessary, “instruct the patient to lose weight.” That was it. It’s a low bar to clear. But such instructions don’t work out too well. […]
March 31, 2016 — A thin line between frustration and progress in obesity care is apparent in the reaction to a new analysis of obesity care patterns published this week by MedScape. On one hand, you can see that even in patients with clear medical needs, 35% of primary care physicians say that they never prescribe obesity medications. Sam […]
