Word: ideas
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...usually meet?" I mumbled in Japanese. They seemed to understand and nodded yes. I took my chances and decided to ask Osaka Gas, hoping for the faintest sign of recognition. Perhaps he had left a note for me. But their confused looks and empty nods revealed they had no idea what I was talking about. I came to the conclusion that I was just making them nervous, and holding back the river of tears, I turned back toward the main exit...
...start-up? "We both like tilting against giants," says Ben. "When Harold started his satellite program at Hughes, he was going against AT&T. In the personal-computer business, I was up against IBM and other giants." The giants ignored them, and paid the price. The Rosens have this idea that history just might repeat itself...
This marks a striking change in attitude. The idea of using drugs to treat excess weight was anathema 20 years ago, when M.I.T. neurologist Dr. Richard Wurtman first learned about the compound fenfluramine. At the time, the term diet pill was synonymous with amphetamines, and conjured up an image of sleazy feel-good doctors getting patients hooked on speed. Pharmaceutical companies wanted nothing to do with the weight-loss business...
...result, fenfluramine went nowhere for years. In the late 1980s, though, pharmacologist Dr. Michael Weintraub of the University of Rochester hit on the idea of adding a mild amphetamine-like drug, phentermine, to fenfluramine. The combination, dubbed fen/phen, didn't put most people to sleep; if anything, it perked them up. And in 1992 Weintraub and colleagues published a series of studies that showed fen/phen to be an astonishingly effective appetite suppressant. Patients lost an average of 30 lbs. within a matter of months, while those who took a placebo and exercised and dieted rigorously didn't come close...
Hence the November meeting. Bilstad acknowledges that the schedule conflicted with the San Diego neurosciences conference. But since Seiden and other Redux opponents had thoroughly aired their views in September and had no new findings, Bilstad decided to go ahead. Says he: "We weighed the idea of putting off the decision for several months, until those experts could be there. Since the committee had heard their presentations before and were given transcripts, we decided that we had the benefit of their comments on the issues. It was a judgment call...