Liraglutide hit the headlines in January because it had just been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the treatment of obesity, to be marketed as “Saxenda”. The EMA had previously approved it for type 2 diabetes in July 2009. In America the approval for obesity had come a month earlier in December 2014.

Last week the British Medical Journal carried a stinging indictment of decades of dietary advice. ‘Scientific evidence shows that advice to reduce saturated fat intake’ wrote cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, (Saturated fat is not the major issue) ‘has paradoxically increased our cardiovascular risks.’ The article was picked up by UK newspapers and others around the world even though he wasn’t saying anything new. (Read more…)