Expert Interviews

1 expert is featured in this series.

An expert discusses how the “lower for longer is better” principle drives current guideline updates, with the National Lipid Association and American Diabetes Association now recommending more aggressive LDL cholesterol targets (less than 70 mg/dL for patients with diabetes) and earlier initiation of combination therapies. The recent 2025 ESC guidelines establish even lower targets, including less than 40 mg/dL for extreme-risk patients and recommend bempedoic acid as monotherapy for statin-intolerant patients or in combination therapy, with oral medications preferred before injectables.

An expert discusses how recent research surprisingly shows vitiligo lesions do not have increased skin cancer risk, fundamentally changing patient counseling from emphasizing cancer prevention to focusing on sunburn protection and addressing the profound psychosocial effects on career choices, relationships and life trajectory across all socioeconomic levels.

In this second segment of an interview with Managed Healthcare Executive about this presentation about aesthetic dermatology at the 2025 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference, Mark S.Nestor, M.D., Ph.D., discussed botulinum toxin injections, the effects that injections into the glalbella can have on depression and differing molecular potencies of the different brands of botulinum toxin.

2 experts are featured in this series.

Panelists discuss how the GALAXI trials’ limitations include exclusion of patients with penetrating/stricturing disease and perianal fistulizing disease and pediatric populations, while emphasizing key takeaways for different stakeholders: Patients can expect strong symptomatic relief with endoscopic healing and excellent safety, providers gain a rigorously-tested first-line treatment option with evidence-based positioning in treatment algorithms and payers should recognize the high-value therapy with potential long-term cost savings through durable remission and reduced disease complications.

1 expert is featured in this series.

An expert discusses how underutilization of combination lipid-lowering therapies stems from overly complex guidelines, primary care providers managing multiple chronic diseases simultaneously, cost and insurance coverage concerns, unfamiliarity with newer medications, and systemic health care barriers. He notes that these issues are particularly problematic when 50% of patients who experienced a heart attack are not even receiving foundational statin therapy 6 months post event.