ABSTRACT Metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) is the most effective treatment for severe obesity, yet it remains profoundly underutilized. Patients seeking MBS face pretreatment requirements, including mandatory psychological evaluation, documented failed diet attempts, and months of lifestyle interventions that are substantially more extensive than those required for most common gas- trointestinal procedures. These requirements were initially developed with patient safety in mind, but evidence has accumulated that many lack outcome- specific support and have become barriers to care, particularly as third- party payers have increasingly used them to restrict access. Meanwhile, potent obesity management medications (OMMs) are prescribed with relatively limited oversight, often to individuals with preclinical disease, at costs that raise questions about economic sustainability. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology Commission's distinction between preclinical obesity (excess adiposity with preserved organ function) and clinical obesity (a systemic illness characterized by objective organ dysfunction or substantial limitations of daily activities) provides a framework for evaluating current treatment access patterns. A critical implication of this framework, which warrants further exploration, is that it may narrow the population for whom medical treatment is considered necessary: for individuals with preclinical obesity, excess adiposity represents a risk state requiring monitoring and evidence- based counseling, not gen- erally an ongoing illness requiring pharmacotherapy or surgery. This paper examines whether the current pattern, relatively low barriers to expensive, chronic pharmacotherapy for preclinical or early- stage disease; relatively high barriers to durable, cost- effective surgery for established clinical obesity, represents a departure from severity- matched care that warrants systematic reconsideration.
Papadia, F.S., Cohen, R.V., Bernante, P., Foletto, M. (2026). The Changing Landscape of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery: Aligning Access With the Clinical Obesity Framework. OBESITY REVIEWS, 2026; 0:e70240, 1-9 [10.1111/obr.70240].
The Changing Landscape of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery: Aligning Access With the Clinical Obesity Framework
Bernante, Paolo;
2026
Abstract
ABSTRACT Metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) is the most effective treatment for severe obesity, yet it remains profoundly underutilized. Patients seeking MBS face pretreatment requirements, including mandatory psychological evaluation, documented failed diet attempts, and months of lifestyle interventions that are substantially more extensive than those required for most common gas- trointestinal procedures. These requirements were initially developed with patient safety in mind, but evidence has accumulated that many lack outcome- specific support and have become barriers to care, particularly as third- party payers have increasingly used them to restrict access. Meanwhile, potent obesity management medications (OMMs) are prescribed with relatively limited oversight, often to individuals with preclinical disease, at costs that raise questions about economic sustainability. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology Commission's distinction between preclinical obesity (excess adiposity with preserved organ function) and clinical obesity (a systemic illness characterized by objective organ dysfunction or substantial limitations of daily activities) provides a framework for evaluating current treatment access patterns. A critical implication of this framework, which warrants further exploration, is that it may narrow the population for whom medical treatment is considered necessary: for individuals with preclinical obesity, excess adiposity represents a risk state requiring monitoring and evidence- based counseling, not gen- erally an ongoing illness requiring pharmacotherapy or surgery. This paper examines whether the current pattern, relatively low barriers to expensive, chronic pharmacotherapy for preclinical or early- stage disease; relatively high barriers to durable, cost- effective surgery for established clinical obesity, represents a departure from severity- matched care that warrants systematic reconsideration.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
