This week, the Endocrine Society joined with over 70 patient and consumer organizations to urge the incoming Trump Administration to adopt a proposed rule which would allow Medicare to cover anti-obesity medications (AOM) for weight loss. The proposed rule, issued by the Biden Administration in November, also acknowledges obesity as a chronic disease. Since this is a proposed rule, the Trump Administration will have to agree to finalize and adopt the rule. The rule is open for public comment until January 27; the Endocrine Society will submit comments to the agency in support of the proposal.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli announced that she is stepping down from her position on Friday, January 17. Dr. Bertagnolli has served as Director since November 2023 and prior to that had served as the director of the National Cancer Institute since October 2022. During Dr. Bertagnolli’s tenure, she has supported several health and research initiatives covering topics ranging from long COVID, primary care research, and women’s health research.
While an interim director for the NIH has not been named yet, the next administration has nominated Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Professor of Health Policy at Stanford University, for the position of NIH Director. As a political appointee, Dr. Bhattacharya must go through the Senate confirmation process before he can serve as the NIH Director. Though a confirmation hearing has not been scheduled yet, we will monitor the health and research priorities of the upcoming administration and we look forward to working with the next NIH Director to elevate the priorities of endocrine researchers.
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