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Dr. Richard Rothman

Richard B. Rothman, MD, PhD

Medical Director

RICHARD PROFESSIONAL

Dr. Rothman is the Medical Director of BeLite Medical Center, which has been helping patients lose weight in the Northern Virginia area since 1996. Board certified in Psychiatry, Dr. Rothman earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Virginia in 1982.

From 1982 to 1984, Dr. Rothman was awarded a PRAT Fellowship to conduct postdoctoral research at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. From 1984 to 1988, he completed his Psychiatric Residency at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., and later at the Laboratory of Clinical Science at the National Institute of Mental Health. From 1991 to 2012, Dr. Rothman served as a Section Chief in the Intramural Research Program at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH, in Baltimore, Maryland. From 2012 to 2024, in addition to serving as Medical Director of BeLite Medical Center, Dr. Rothman worked full-time running inpatient psychiatric units at area hospitals.

Dr. Rothman has published over 400 scientific papers on on weight loss supplements  and other medical topics in peer-reviewed journals and has presented over 400 scientific abstracts at national and international meetings. His published work on appetite suppressants has established him as a leading expert in this field. Notably, Dr. Rothman’s laboratory was among the first to identify the mechanism responsible for valvular heart disease produced by fenfluramine. . In collaboration with Dr. Ed Hendricks, he has contributed several published papers reviewing the overall safety of phentermine..

Dr. Rothman has received numerous awards recognizing his work, including the Joseph Cochin Young Investigator Award from the Committee on Problems of Drug Dependence (1991), the Scientific Achievement Award in Biological Sciences for contributions in opioid pharmacology from the Washington Academy of Sciences (1989), and the A. E. Bennett Award (Basic Science) from the Society for Biological Psychiatry (1987).

In addition to his extensive experience in treating obesity, Dr. Rothman has substantial clinical experience in the psychopharmacological treatment of psychiatric disorders. He is (or was) a member of several professional groups, including the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the Medical Society of Virginia, and the American Medical Association. Dr. Rothman is licensed to practice medicine in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia.

Selected Bibliography of Publications

  1. Hendricks EJ, Rothman RB. Phentermine therapy for obesity does not elevate blood pressure. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2011 Oct;13(10):963-4.
  2. Hendricks EJ, Rothman RB. RE: Pulmonary hypertension associated with use of phentermine? Yonsei Med J. 2011 Sep;52(5):869-70.
  3. Rothman RB, Hendricks EJ. Phentermine cardiovascular safety II: response to Yosefy. Int J Cardiol. 2010 Nov 19;145(2):391-2.
  4. Rothman RB, Hendricks EJ. Phentermine cardiovascular safety. Am J Emerg Med. 2009 Oct;27(8):1010-3.
  5. Rothman RB. Treatment of obesity with “combination” pharmacotherapy. Am J Ther. 2010 Nov-Dec;17(6):596-603.
  6. Hendricks EJ, Rothman RB, Greenway FL. How physician obesity specialists use drugs to treat obesity. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2009 Sep;17(9):1730-5.
  7. Rothman RB, Hendricks EJ. Phentermine cardiovascular safety. In response to Yosefy C, Berman M, Beeri R. Cusp tear in bicuspid aortic valve possibly caused by phentermine. Int J Cardiol. 2010 Oct 8;144(2):241-2.
  8. Rothman RB, Baumann MH. Appetite suppressants, cardiac valve disease and combination pharmacotherapy. Am J Ther. 2009 Jul-Aug;16(4):354-64. Review.
  9. Rothman RB, Blough BE, Baumann MH. Dopamine/serotonin releasers as medications for stimulant addictions. Prog Brain Res. 2008;172:385-406. Review.
  10. Zolkowska D, Rothman RB, Baumann MH. Amphetamine analogs increase plasma serotonin: implications for cardiac and pulmonary disease. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2006 Aug;318(2):604-10.
  11. Halladay AK, Wagner GC, Sekowski A, Rothman RB, Baumann MH, Fisher H. Alterations in alcohol consumption, withdrawal seizures, and monoamine transmission in rats treated with phentermine and 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan. Synapse. 2006 Apr;59(5):277-89.
  12. Alexander M, Rothman RB, Baumann MH, Endres CJ, Brasic JR, Wong DF. Noradrenergic and dopaminergic effects of (+)-amphetamine-like stimulants in the baboon Papio anubis. Synapse. 2005 May;56(2):94-9.
  13. Rothman RB. The age-adjusted mortality rate from primary pulmonary hypertension, in age range 20 to 54 years, did not increase during the years of peak “phen/fen” use. Chest. 2000 Nov;118(5):1516-7.
  14. Rothman RB, Baumann MH, Dersch CM, Romero DV, Rice KC, Carroll FI, Partilla JS. Amphetamine-type central nervous system stimulants release norepinephrine more potently than they release dopamine and serotonin. Synapse. 2001 Jan;39(1):32-41.
  15. Rothman RB, Baumann MH, Savage JE, Rauser L, McBride A, Hufeisen SJ, Roth BL. Evidence for possible involvement of 5-HT(2B) receptors in the cardiac valvulopathy associated with fenfluramine and other serotonergic medications. Circulation. 2000 Dec 5;102(23):2836-41.
  16. Rothman RB, Ayestas MA, Dersch CM, Baumann MH. Aminorex, fenfluramine, and chlorphentermine are serotonin transporter substrates: implications for primary pulmonary hypertension. Circulation. 1999 Aug 24;100(8):869-75.