Obesity Medicine Association Applauds American Medical Association’s Decision to Adopt New Anti-HCG Policy

Policy States Use of HCG for Weight Loss Inappropriate

Today the American Medical Association (AMA) passed policy that ensures patients with obesity will receive better care.

Representatives from OMA introduced a policy to the AMA House of Delegates calling on the AMA to establish a position that the use of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) for weight loss is inappropriate. The AMA House of Delegates voted to approve this statement as official AMA policy.

HCG has long been touted as a miracle weight loss supplement, but clinical trials have shown that HCG does not induce weight loss or improve a person’s health.

The policy is consistent with a position statement released by OMA in 2010 denouncing the use of HCG as a treatment for obesity.

“To date, scientific studies have shown HCG to be an ineffective treatment option,” said Dr. Ethan Lazarus, OMA’s representative in the AMA House of Delegates.

“Nevertheless, many ‘medical’ weight loss centers claim that HCG is a miracle treatment. They continue to offer HCG, deceiving individuals to spend money on a treatment that doesn’t actually work,” Lazarus added.

Lazarus addressed the AMA House of Delegates during its interim meeting with the message that obesity is a chronic disease and should be treated appropriately. This policy deeming the use of HCG for weight loss inappropriate is one of several policies adopted by the AMA in the last few years that improves how patients with obesity receive care in the U.S.

Dr. Lazarus is an obesity medicine specialist in Greenwood Village, Colo.