The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the first medicine developed specifically to treat the serious liver disease known as MASH.

The pill, called Rezdiffra, is made by Madrigal Pharmaceuticals.

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Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, is often associated with obesity. The accumulation of fat in the liver causes inflammation, which leads to fibrosis, or liver scarring, and can progress in more advanced stages to cirrhosis, cancer, and the need for a liver transplant.

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