// The physician · Clinic 45

Dr. Joseph Sleiman, MD.

20 years of clinical practice in Houston. Medical Director of Clinic 45. The protocol you receive is written by the physician you see at every visit — not handed off to a PA or auto-filled by a platform.

Dr. Joseph E. Sleiman MD, Medical Director of Clinic 45 Houston
Dr. Joseph E. Sleiman · MD · Medical Director
// Medical Director

Joseph E. Sleiman

MD · 20 Years Clinical Practice · Houston, Texas

Dr. Sleiman has practised medicine in Houston for two decades. His approach to weight management is grounded in clinical evidence: lab-driven decisions, in-person monitoring, and an honest conversation about what is and is not possible for each patient's physiology.

He began working with GLP-1 medications before semaglutide became a household word — which means he has seen the full arc of what these therapies do well, and where they fall short when prescribed without adequate oversight. The protocols at Clinic 45 reflect that accumulated clinical experience.

Every patient who comes to Clinic 45 is seen by Dr. Sleiman — not triaged by a nurse and handed a standing prescription. The first consult is 60 minutes. Follow-ups are scheduled with enough time to actually talk. That is by design, not an accident of availability.

Clinical focus areas
  • GLP-1 Therapeutics
  • Medical Weight Management
  • Hormone Replacement Therapy
  • Testosterone Replacement (TRT)
  • IV Nutritional Therapy
  • Metabolic Medicine
  • Preventive & Lifestyle Medicine
// The approach

The standard of care for weight management in 2026 is broken in a specific way: the tools are better than they have ever been, and the delivery of those tools is worse than it has ever been.

Semaglutide and tirzepatide are genuinely transformative medications. They work for most patients who are appropriate candidates. But appropriate candidacy requires a physician who has looked at your labs, reviewed your cardiovascular history, and asked the questions that a three-minute telehealth intake does not allow. At Clinic 45, that evaluation is not optional — it is the starting point.

The second problem with the current market is monitoring. Patients on GLP-1 medications are losing significant muscle mass alongside fat — a side effect that is invisible on a bathroom scale and never flagged by an app. Without periodic lab work and a body composition check, weight loss can look like success on paper while creating new metabolic problems underneath. Dr. Sleiman monitors this. Every Clinic 45 patient has documented progress data, not just a number on the scale.

The third problem is exit planning. Most weight loss programs have no plan for what happens when the medication is stopped. The evidence on GLP-1 withdrawal is clear: patients who stop without a managed taper and a metabolic maintenance strategy regain a significant portion of their weight within a year. Clinic 45 builds that exit plan into every program from the beginning.

// The standard

4 pillars of Clinic 45 care.

These are not values written on a wall. They are the constraints Dr. Sleiman applies to every prescription, every follow-up, and every recommendation made in this clinic.

01

Labs before prescriptions.

No GLP-1 prescription leaves Clinic 45 without a baseline metabolic panel, thyroid function, and cardiovascular risk assessment. The labs inform the protocol — not the other way around.

02

One physician, every visit.

Dr. Sleiman sees every patient at every visit. There are no rotating providers, no PA-only follow-ups, and no cases handed off because a prescription was already written. Your relationship is with him.

03

Monitoring, not just dispensing.

Monthly check-ins are required, not optional add-ons. Blood pressure, muscle composition, lab trends, and side effects are reviewed at every visit and documented in your chart.

04

An honest exit plan.

Every patient receives a taper and maintenance protocol before they start — not at the end. Weight loss that doesn't include a plan for medication cessation is incomplete medicine.

Ready to meet the physician?

The first consultation with Dr. Sleiman is 60 minutes. Bring your labs if you have them, your medication history, and your honest list of what you have tried before. He will tell you exactly where to go from here.