Another review/meta-analysis confirms that GLP-1 weight off doesn’t stay off. A University of Oxford systemic review and meta-analysis of 130 full texts, distilled to 11 studies with 6,370 participants, determined the quantity of weight gain after discontinuing GLP-1 RA (receptor agonists) drugs. The gain was approximately 0.8kg (1.8 lbs.) per week for the new, more effective and common GLP-1 drugs semaglutide and tirzepatide, which means that weight loss was regained in approximately 1.5 years (76 weeks+). The meta-study notes that the regain is greater than observed following behavioral weight management programs. The study was done by researchers at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford and the National Institute of Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford. Presented at the 32nd European Congress on Obesity (ECO) 2025 in Malaga, Spain.  Poster PDF here.

Another study from Sacred Heart University (Connecticut) noted last week as a sidebar to our WeightWatchers and Calibrate article also found that the weight regain was proportional to the original weight loss. The regain varied by type of GLP-1 drug, but the study labels it ‘significant’. Obesity Reviews (Wiley) 4 April 2025 

GLP-1 weight loss is not puppies and rainbows as it’s being marketed right now. First, 30% of users quit in four weeks and 42% by 12 weeks due to side effects like nausea, constipation, vomiting, and worse.  BCBS study, GLP-1 Digest 4 Apr  The flip side is that over half make it past the three-month bar. But it is not ‘one and done’, and right now expectations are not being managed well, especially by the teleprescribers advertising on TV and radio. For the clinically obese, to maintain their hard-won goal weight and health benefits, it will require management as a chronic disease,  continuing weight/lifestyle management, and perhaps another round of the drugs in future. For the non-obese, it requires continuing weight/lifestyle management and a recognition of the rebound. It’s a good news/bad news scenario for teleprescribers and pharmas: users will require ongoing management and may cycle through another round in a year or two- to lose weight again, but they could also be disappointed and not want to spend the money. Hat tip to the GLP-1 Digest 25 May on Substack.

A “soft robot” that strolls off its 3D printer. We’ve missed our robots. Scientists at the University of Edinburgh developed a new, inexpensive printer that created a palm-sized, 100% soft plastic, walking robot. When connected to a compressed air supply, the robot walks off the 3D Flex Printer (video download here). It’s not much to look at (at left in the picture) but soft plastic robots have great potential for use in areas such as nuclear decommissioning, the biomedical sector and in space. Designs for the printer are public and the printer uses inexpensive off-the-shelf parts that cost less than £400 and don’t require a PhD to put together. University of Edinburgh release

Ambience Healthcare’s ambient AI model now outperforms board-certified physicians in ICD-10 coding accuracy. Ambience’s platform, trained using OpenAI’s Reinforcement Fine-Tuning (RFT) technology, has a 27% relative improvement over physician benchmarks, which means a significant reduction in ICD-10 coding errors. The Ambience system combines scribing patient encounters with identifying the ICD-10 codes to generate a fully informed note that then allows the clinician to review and confirm accurate documentation and coding in real time. Ambience covers codes in over 100 specialties and is in use at 40 health organizations for documentation.  Release

Get A Second Opinion enters the DTC information market on medications. The subscription model at a modest $35/year solves the problem of consumer confusion over medications, interactions, alternatives, and cost. Its two tools are:

• Discovery Tool: Analyzes a single medication and/or condition against a unique profile, generating a comprehensive report with rankings, supporting data, and average monthly cost—often identifying more effective alternatives with fewer side effects at a lower cost. The annual plan covers up to 10 reports.
• Planner: Evaluates up to 10 medications treating up to 10 conditions simultaneously, identifying optimal treatment combinations while minimizing side effects and adverse interactions. The annual plan covers up to two reports.

The profile is built using their AI Diagnostician engine, which analyzes age, sex, BMI, medications, pre-existing conditions, and price. It  cross-references each unique profile with FDA data, medical studies, warning labels, and clinical outcomes. Get A Second Opinion also offers a 100% accuracy guarantee. Having all the information in one place is more than reassuring and worth it, especially when prescribed new drugs. Your Editor can say this from first-hand experience–and her brother is a physician! Release

AssistIQ’s surgical supply chain management system raised a Series A of $11.5 million. Funders were Battery Ventures, with participation from existing investor Tamarind Hill. AssistIQ tracks actual supply and implant usage in operating rooms and procedural areas using the AIQ Capture platform that tracks supplies and implants as they are used, eliminating RFID and barcodes, and integrating them into EHR and billing records with 98% accuracy versus half in manual systems. The Montreal-based company had an initial seed raise of C$2.5 million from StandUp Ventures. Its US flagships are design partner Northwell Health (Allscripts transitioning to Epic), Owensboro Health Regional Hospital in Kentucky (Epic), and others in coming months. It is also a partner with CHUM— Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal , the anchor hospital for the University of Montreal. Mobihealthnews, Battery Ventures release, BusinessWire release