The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) has released the revised draft report Controversies in Obesity Management that reflects revisions made following a public comment period. The revised draft report will be the subject of deliberation and vote at the July 14, 2015 meeting of the California Technology Assessment Forum (CTAF) in Los Angeles, California, and synthesizes the current evidence on the comparative clinical and cost-effectiveness of multiple medical and surgical approaches to weight loss for patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher.

In the report, ICER examines four bariatric procedures, three devices, and four medications, as shown below:

Procedures commonly used in the US:

  • Roux-en-Y gastric bypass
  • laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding
  • vertical sleeve gastrectomy
  • biliopancreatic diversion (with or without duodenal switch)

Devices:

  • temporary intragastric balloon systems (e.g., Silimed®, ReShape®)
  • vagus nerve block devices (Maestro®)
  • duodenal-jejunal bypass liner (Endobarrier®)

Medications:

  • naltrexone/bupropion sustained-release (Contrave®)
  • phentermine/topiramate extended-release (Qsymia®)
  • lorcaserin (BELVIQ®)
  • liraglutide (Saxenda®)

A limited number of tickets are still available for members of the public who wish to attend the meeting in-person; register now by clicking here. Members of the public who are unable to attend the meeting in-person may register for a live webcast of the event by clicking here. A video recording will be available on the CTAF website the week after the meeting.