There is no approved drug for fatty liver disease, only diet and exercise
The old claim turned out to be wrong and was rejected by evidence.
TaughtNon-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the serious, scarring form of fatty liver disease, has no medication. Despite affecting millions, the only treatment is losing weight through diet and exercise; every drug candidate had failed in trials.
NowOn 14 March 2024, the FDA approved resmetirom (Rezdiffra) for NASH, now called MASH, with moderate-to-advanced liver fibrosis. It is the first drug ever approved for the disease, after decades in which every candidate fell short.
What actually happened
Resmetirom is a thyroid-hormone-receptor-beta agonist that pushes the liver to burn its accumulated fat. In its pivotal trial it resolved the disease without worsening scarring in about 26–30% of patients, versus roughly 10% on placebo, and improved fibrosis by at least one stage in around a quarter of patients.
The honest limits: it is approved for a specific band of disease (moderate-to-advanced fibrosis, not cirrhosis), it works best alongside diet and exercise rather than replacing them, and a minority of patients hit the endpoints. But the flat statement generations of clinicians repeated, 'there is no drug for fatty liver disease', is now false.
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Who was taught this
Still standard through 2024, so anyone who finished school between 1950 and 2024 learned the earlier version.