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TOS, ASMBS leadership kick off ObesityWeek opening session
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LOS ANGELES — John Morton, MPH, MD, FACS, president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, and Nikhil Dhurandhar, PhD, president of The Obesity Society, opened their joint ObesityWeek annual meeting here.
“You are here at the world’s largest gathering for health care professionals dedicated to the study and science and care of the obese patient,” Morton said.
John Morton
Morton outlined the obesity treatment milestones in the past year: AMA recognizing obesity as a disease; the U.S. Office of Personnel Management decision that federal employee health plans will no longer exclude obesity services; “the tide turning when it comes to the treatment of obese diabetics,” and “a real change where we are getting new devices — three last year and another new drug from the FDA.
“We are getting that full continuum of care — everything from prevention to medication to endoscopy to surgery,” he said.
Solomon estimated that the meeting will have 5,500 attendees.
Nikhil Dhurandhar
Dhurandhar said there were many organizers of the meeting “who provided a study vision and strategic guidance to ObesityWeek.”
Program chairs Terry T. Huang, PhD, MPH, and Aurora D. Pryor, MD, outlined highlights of the scientific program. – by Joan-Marie Stiglich, ELS