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NAASO, The Obesity Society, Provides Input as FDA Considers
Orlistat OTC
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The Obesity Society provided written
comments and live testimony to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
regarding the proposed over-the-counter use of Orlistat. NAASO, The
Obesity Society, supported the switch of Orlistat to over-the-counter
status, given the medication's favorable safety and efficacy profile.
Increasing the medication's availability will increase the public's
options in selecting an empirically supported weight loss approach. The
Obesity Society did have several recommendations concerning the use of
Orlistat OTC. It noted the need for OTC bottles to recommend the use of
multivitamin supplements, and suggested that OTC use be limited to
persons age 14 and older. Citing concerns that over-the-counter
availability will lead to abuse by people suffering from eating
disorders, The Obesity Society recommended that the FDA require the
establishment of a careful monitoring system to study the use and abuse
of Orlistat as an over-the-counter drug. Robert Berkowitz, MD, testified before the FDA advisory
committees on January 23. The Obesity Society’s written
comments and live testimony were prepared by the Public Affairs
Committee, chaired by Barry Popkin, PhD.
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NAASO, The Obesity Society, Responds to CMS Statement on
Reimbursement for Bariatric Surgery
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The Obesity Society recently submitted
comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
concerning the National Coverage Determination (NCD) for bariatric
surgery. The Obesity Society praised CMS for requiring that bariatric
surgery centers provide integrated, multidisciplinary care, and noted
that it is critical that CMS authorize payment for such services. The
Obesity Society expressed concern that the NCD limits coverage of
bariatric surgery to patients under the age of 65, and supported
extending coverage, in carefully selected cases, to persons 65 years of
age and older. To read the entire comment letter, which was prepared by
Obesity Society President Thomas
Wadden, PhD, Clinical Committee Chair Robert Kushner, MD, and Section on
Bariatric Surgery Chair David Sarwer,
PhD, please visit The Obesity Society’s Web
site.
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Obesity Online Wins Web Site Award
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Obesity
Online was recently awarded a Silver medal in the World Wide Web
Health Awards competition, which recognizes the best health-related Web
sites for consumers and professionals. The Health Awards are organized by
the Health Information Resource Center (HIRC), a national clearinghouse
for health information programs and materials. A panel of international
health information and Internet experts judge entries based on accuracy,
success in reaching the targeted audience, and overall quality. Our
society thanks and congratulates Obesity Online’s editorial board,
which includes Steven Haffner, MD
(Chair), Christie Ballantyne, MD,
Samuel Klein, MD, MS, and Xavier Pi-Suyner, MD, MPH. Have you
visited Obesity
Online recently? Be sure to check out the new commentary, “The
Role of NEAT in Obesity,” by Dr. Pi-Sunyer.
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Print Your Continuing Education Certificate from the 2005 Annual
Scientific Meeting Online
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2005 Annual Scientific Meeting attendees
can now print certificates listing all events attended in Vancouver online at the NAASO
Learning Center. In addition to tracking credit earned at the
meeting, users can earn additional credit by viewing streaming
audio/slide presentations from sessions they missed. The Learning
Center is free to meeting attendees. If you didn’t attend the
2005 meeting, you can sign up to purchase access on a yearly subscription
basis. You can select access to either individual sessions or to the full
conference. As a member benefit, Obesity Society members receive a
discount on all Learning
Center purchases.
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Grants Available Through Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Healthy
Eating Research Program
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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has
announced the launch of the Healthy Eating Research program, an $11
million national program that will support research to identify, analyze,
and evaluate environmental and policy strategies that can promote healthy
eating and prevent obesity among children. The program's first call for
proposals focuses on school food policies and environments and is
available at www.rwjf.org/cfp/her.
A total of approximately $3 million will be awarded in this round of
funding. For more information, please visit www.healthyeatingresearch.org.
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Staff Changes at NAASO, The Obesity Society, Headquarters
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In December, The Obesity Society
welcomed a new Director of Communications and Publications, Aislinn Raedy. Aislinn is a health
care communications professional with a background working for
medical/scientific societies. She will be responsible for increasing the
visibility of obesity research and treatment as well as The Obesity
Society’s programs and services.
Former Membership Assistant Ana Escobar has been promoted to
Executive Assistant/Office Manager. Ana has been a dedicated employee of
NAASO, The Obesity Society, for four years. In her new role, Ana will
work closely with the Executive Director and will oversee the
administrative management of The Obesity Society’s headquarters
office.
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Save
the Date for This Year’s Annual Scientific Meeting
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Don’t forget to mark your
calendars for the 2006 Annual Scientific Meeting of NAASO, The Obesity
Society, which will be held October 20-24, 2006, in Boston, Massachusetts. More information will be available in the coming weeks – visit the 2006
Annual Scientific Meeting Web site for the latest on abstract
submission and advance registration.
Watch Your Mail for
Ballots
Voting members of The Obesity Society will soon be receiving ballots to
elect a new Secretary/Treasurer to serve on the NAASO Council. Ballots
will be arriving in the next two weeks, and should be returned to The
Obesity Society’s headquarters office using the enclosed envelope.
Questions and comments
about The Obesity Society’s Web site or newsletter? Please contact Aislinn Raedy at aislinnr@naaso.org or Karen Teff,
PhD, at kteff@pobox.up enn.edu.
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