AMA Declares
Obesity a Disease by Marcia Frellick for Medscape Medical News on June 19, 2013.
Physicians voted overwhelmingly to label obesity as a disease
that requires a range of interventions to advance treatment and prevention.
However, there was impassioned debate in the hours before the
vote here at the American Medical Association (AMA) 2013 Annual Meeting.
Although policies adopted by the House of Delegates have no
legal standing, decisions are often referenced in influencing governmental
bodies. This decision could have implications for provider reimbursement,
public policy, patient stigma, and International Classification of Diseases coding.
"Obesity is a pathophysiologic disease. There is a
treatment for this disease; it involves behavioral modifications, medications,
and surgeons. Obesity affects minorities disproportionately," said
Jonathan Leffert, MD, alternate delegate for Endocrinology, Diabetes, and
Metabolism. "The scientific evidence is overwhelming."
Melvyn Sterling, MD, said this brings to mind to the debate over
whether hypertension is a disease.
"I'm a general internist, among other things, and I treat
the complications of this disease. It's interesting to look back in history at
a time when hypertension was not thought to be a disease," said Dr.
Sterling, who is from the AMA Organized Medical Staff Section, but was speaking
for himself. "Obesity is a disease. It's very, very, very clear that even
though not every hypertensive gets a stroke and not every obese person suffers
the complications, that does not change the fact that this is a disease."
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