Jason Karlawish

Sep 3, 2024 | inquirer.com | Jason Karlawish

I’m reasonably confident I know what it is like to be Joe Biden right now, at least in one regard. I’m a physician dedicated to caring for adults living with cognitive impairment. President Biden is, like many of my patients, making the extraordinarily difficult transition from being a person who enjoyed the default state of being “cognitively unimpaired” to the state of being a person living with cognitive impairment.

Feb 6, 2024 | statnews.com | Jason Karlawish

Last week, Biogen announced it will cease both the study and sale of Aduhelm, its FDA-approved monoclonal antibody for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Its decision, the company explained, is not a response to new data about the drug’s safety or efficacy, but instead “a reprioritization of resources.” Simply put, it wasn’t about science or medicine. It was about money.

Dec 14, 2023 | wsj.com | Jason Karlawish

As I explained to Robert and his wife, these new drugs are quite different. In tests involving patients in the two early stages of Alzheimer’s—mild cognitive impairment and mild stage dementia—both medicines reduced beta-amyloid build-up in the brain, one of the pathologies that cause the disease, and slowed the pace of decline in cognitive and functional abilities.

Nov 1, 2023 | agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Nathaniel Chin |Eric Widera |Sharon Brangman |Jason Karlawish

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of monoclonal antibodies (MAB) targeting amyloid protein for treatment of Alzheimer's disease has ushered in a new era in Alzheimer's care. Disease-modifying therapies are now available to patients living with cognitive impairment and confirmed presence of brain beta-amyloid. Many geriatricians have voiced concerns and even outright disagreement with their approval and clinical use.1, 2 Many of these concerns are valid.

Jun 16, 2023 | statnews.com | Jason Karlawish

Over the past several months, my conversations with colleagues in the Alzheimer’s field have featured an unusual sentiment: optimism inflected with worry. Optimism because, after years of failed studies and the disastrous accelerated approval of aducanumab, we’re enjoying a less than one-year-old streak of good news. The latest bright flash is the June 9 Food and Drug Administration hearing on the anti-amyloid antibody lecanemab (to be sold by Eisai as Leqembi).