The talk “De-Prescribing Case Reports” by Dr Penny Figtree, Dr Ron Schweitzer and Dr Liz Fraser emphasises the critical need for re-evaluating insulin use in type 2 diabetes management. It challenges the default medical approach of continually increasing insulin doses and instead advocates for thoughtful deprescribing strategies, particularly when combined with dietary interventions like low-carbohydrate eating.
The speakers highlight how insulin can exacerbate insulin resistance, lead to weight gain, and contribute to poor cardiovascular outcomes. They argue that educating GPs on how to safely reduce insulin, rather than just initiate or escalate it, is sorely lacking in current medical training. Simple dietary swaps, like an omelette instead of cereal, can significantly reduce or eliminate the need for insulin.
The talk includes multiple case studies, illustrating how patients successfully came off insulin, improved renal function, lost weight, reversed fatty liver, and even achieved remission of diabetes—all by combining dietary changes with careful, supported medication reduction. GLP-1 agonists are highlighted as helpful tools in this process.
Importantly, the speakers stress close monitoring, daily communication, and a patient-specific approach, noting that while some patients transition off insulin quickly, others need more time and support. They also caution that deprescribing isn’t always possible or appropriate in every case but can yield dramatic benefits when done thoughtfully. The overall message is clear: empowered patients and educated clinicians can transform diabetes care away from lifelong medication dependency toward sustainable, lifestyle-driven health.
Dr Penny Figtree
Dr Penny Figtree graduated from the University of Sydney in 1993 with first-class honours. With over 20 years in general practice, she has now decided to focus on weight loss and diabetes. This decision was made after seeing the power of a low carbohydrate diet to help people lose weight and for some to even reverse diabetes. Dr. Figtree has now been practising low carb medicine for more than 2 years. She describes this as the most rewarding part of her career, stopping medications and patients feeling well.
Dr Ronald Schweitzer
Dr Ronald Schweitzer is a general practitioner and lecturer/tutor at Monash University for the Year 2 and Year 4 undergraduate medical students in the Department of General Practice. Dr Schweitzer practices all aspects of general practice, but his major area of interest is in the low carbohydrate, healthy fat (LCHF) eating approach. He embraced LCHF, both personally and professionally, in 2018 after extensive research. He now uses the LCHF approach in the management of a number of conditions including but not limited to diabetes and pre-diabetes, weight loss, fatty liver, high blood pressure (hypertension) and abnormal lipids.
Dr Liz Fraser
Dr Liz Fraser completed her medical training in Canberra in 2003. Since then, she has worked as a GP with a particular focus on nutritional medicine and helping patients with complex health problems. Dr. Fraser is the cofounder of Low Carb Canberra. Her passion, apart from gardening, reading and interpreting scientific articles, is educating other doctors on the benefits of recommending low-carb diets to their patients.
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