As the podcast hosts insights from our very own audience this week, we are extending three additional conversations from recent reviews of a particularly exciting NASH-TAG 2023. This session features dialogue from a one-on-one interview with Donna Cryer, hosted by Roger Green.

The episode begins with Roger mentioning what he found to be one of the most striking statistics from the meeting: an IQVIA study captured only 200,000 total ICD-10 codes for NASH in a total US population that should have yielded 16 million such codes. To Donna, this underscores a significant need: we have to find physicians that want to treat patients. As she puts it, “it would do more harm than good” to send patients to doctors’ offices before doctors are activated to screen and treat. Roger identifies a dilemma: if patients aren’t visiting doctors, doctors will not feel motivated to learn. However, if patients are seen by unmotivated doctors, a negative information loop emerges. Donna notes lessons from the hepatitis care cascade and that at the outset, there is the need to screen an “enriched population” with higher probability of NASH. Roger suggests this is easier in the US, where electronic health records are standard. In much of the rest of the world, ALT tests are not part of a standard blood panel and too many records are on paper. Donna then emphasizes the need to dramatically increase advocacy and energy among medical stakeholders. She also points to what drug and diagnostic companies can do to energize physician practices to identify the patients needing treatment after a drug is approved. Finally, Roger asks Donna to rate her level of enthusiasm emerging from NASH-TAG. He offers a scale ranging from 1 to 6, where 1 represents “thoroughly depressed” and 6 represents “over the moon.” Her response addresses organization around regulatory science in a way that makes what is undeniable inevitable. Surf on to hear her gauge.

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This week, Surfing NASH has focused on community engagement and incorporating insights and perspectives from the listeners. If you enjoy our content, we kindly ask that you submit a review wherever you download our episodes. We also encourage our audience to write us questions and look forward to integrating your on-ground experiences and ideas in the weekly discourse. Most important of all, we whole-heartedly thank you for your continued support as we set out to put a major dent in Fatty Liver disease in 2023 and beyond.