𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃

👧 Dad • VR Surgery @UMich • Heed Fellow • Prev: Trauma Chief @WUSTL • dev 💊 to restore myelin @tesarlab • @ionispharma ION356 & @convelotx

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 @MattElitt]

I’m happy to announce that @ionispharma has entered a licensing agreement with @cwru to translate a new treatment approach for Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (https://t.co/HlnnehjSKT) to patients suffering from this severe neurological disease.

[Derek Thompson @DKThomp]

This has quietly been a miracle month in medicine.

In the last 5 weeks we’ve got news on:

- retatrutide, the triple agonist GLP-1 from Lilly, basically melting fat and body-wide inflammation at record levels
- RevMed’s new pancreatic cancer drug showing unprecedented abilities to extend life
- small trial of a one-and-done PCSK9 gene editing therapy for slashing LDL cholesterol
- Mayo’s AI-assisted radiology showing vastly improved cancer detection
- this new therapy for metastatic solid tumors

This stuff is at varying levels of evidence. Retatrutide is ~100% on its way, other stuff needs more clinical trial data. But put it together and we’re maybe on the verge of majorly reducing the mortality of heart disease and cancer, the two leading causes of death in America.

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 @MattElitt]

I can’t believe this has to be said but no, nurses should not be performing surgery under any circumstance. https://t.co/yxuBAfp38B

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 @MattElitt]

Excited and deeply honored to be selected as a Heed Ophthalmic Foundation Fellow. Thankful to the incredible mentors, collaborators, and colleagues who have shaped my training and research journey. Looking forward to continuing work at the intersection of vitreoretinal surgery, translational science, and emerging gene and cell therapies.

https://t.co/lZgNr5W1Hu

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 @MattElitt]

@MichaelAlbertMD Are you sure they’re entirely distinct? https://t.co/um4ATmWYgH?

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 @MattElitt]

@NeilFlochMD Did they control for GLP1 type (low vs high intensity)? Did they control for non-compliance?

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 @MattElitt]

@zalaly @DanielJDrucker Why didn’t this signal exist in the 100k+ patients in the placebo controlled trials?

https://t.co/e5DylFW01v

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 @MattElitt]

https://t.co/e5DylFW01v

Across nearly 100k participants in randomized, placebo controlled GLP1-1 drug trials the rate of NAION was equivalent between drug and placebo. This is the highest quality data that we have currently and hopefully it puts this issue to rest.

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 @MattElitt]

@DanielJDrucker The original retrospective study that set this all in motion had major methodological flaws.

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 @MattElitt]

@fdzmurillo @RockBolig This is fake news. Across more than 10000+ patients no hepatic safety signals were observed. Perhaps you’re thinking about the three patients with liver enzyme elevations secondary to gallbladder disease in their obesity trial?

[Jing Liang 🇺🇦 @AppleHelix]

I can't believe @sensible__med retweeted this horrible take. It demonstrates how little appreciation the sensible med crew has for basic biology.

The desmoplastic stroma of PDAC is so dense that no biologic drug can penetrate. PDAC learned to hijack every immune suppression mechanism - CAFs, MDSCs, TAMs, Tregs. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have ZERO effect on PDAC.

This is the perfect example of medical nihilism!

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 @MattElitt]

@MichaelAlbertMD Why not just a pcsk9?

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 @MattElitt]

One of the ages

[Hims House @himshouse]

🚨 BREAKING: $HIMS HAS REMOVED ALL META ADS CONTAINING "SAME ACTIVE INGREDIENT AS WEGOVY" FOR ITS NEW COMPOUNDED GLP-1 PILL

The below ad was live as of yesterday. I just checked the Meta Ads library and it is nowhere to be found.

It was always surprising that Hims included that phrase in its press release and Meta ads, given the FDA's September letter specifically asked them not to use it.

From conversations I've had today, it sounds like this is what rankled Makary and caused the tweet last night. The ads have officially been taken down, and neither of the two remaining GLP-1 pill ads contains the problematic "same active ingredient" line.

Good news.

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 @MattElitt]

@DrEricDing Eric. Hims was attempting to sell oral semaglutide (illegal) with a completely unproven/untested delivery vehicle (also illegal). Hims produces nothing novel and gets to free ride the innovations of others. Hopefully their executives go to prison.

[TheLAPurchaser @TheLAPurchaser]

$HIMS -- Removing oral sema from mkt was not a choice. They were staring down the barrel of a preliminary injunction.

Now that the government has established HIMS as a bad actor, the dominos probably keep falling...I'm not a lawyer, but this is pretty much an admission of guilt:

(i) FDA sent HIMS a warning letter in Sept'25.
(ii) HIMS ignores the letter and launches oral semaglutide (with unapproved absorption tech + misleading marketing).
(iii) This passes the 'Willfulness Test' which opens HIMS up to CRIMINAL prosecution under FDCA.

The highest profile cases of criminal FDCA violations resulted in multi-billion $ fines.

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 @MattElitt]

@daaniellacerda @RepLuna HHS referred the case to the DOJ for criminal prosecution.

[Sam Kampner @KampnerSam]

Let’s be very clear here because I see a lot of confusion on the timeline.

$HIMS halting sales of their compounded semaglutide pill today is a step in the right direction.

But it does not fix the bigger problem.

Yesterday, the HHS General Counsel explicitly referred $HIMS to the DOJ. The referral wasn't just for FDA violations. It specifically cited Title 18 provisions.

If you don't speak legal, let me translate.

Title 18 = The Federal Criminal Code.

This takes the conversation from "regulatory slap on the wrist" to potential criminal territory. We are talking about the code that covers:

1. Healthcare Fraud. If there was intent to deceive regulators or consumers.

2. Mail/Wire Fraud. If misleading marketing was used to ship products.

3. Product Tampering. If the pills were misrepresented as FDA-approved equivalents (like Wegovy).

Stopping sales today might mitigate future risk, but the DOJ investigation is retroactive. They are looking at what has already happened.

If prosecutors find evidence of willful misconduct, like knowingly distributing misbranded drugs after the shortage ended, an apology isn't going to cut it.

This is no longer just a civil matter. It’s a criminal probe.

Hope this helps.

NFA, DYOR.

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 @MattElitt]

@taylorkantor @RepLuna Says the guy who directly profits off of IP theft. Might want to disclose that in your post.

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 @MattElitt]

@daaniellacerda @RepLuna I do see prisoners on occasion!

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭 𝐌𝐃, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 @MattElitt]

@SteelCBlues @RepLuna The FDA did bring regulatory action against many compounders for selling adulterated GLP1s. But the entire issue is moot now because there are no shortages of GLP1s so it’s illegal for any compounder to sell these Chinese made products, even if they were pure (which they are not)