View Single Post
  #1  
Old June 13th, 2007, 04:52 PM posted to alt.support.diet
D.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3
Default FDA review on Wednesday June 13: New Diet Drug and Suicidal Thoughts

From "Sham vs. Wham: The Health Insider" (Google for original text)

Here we go again . . . You'll recall how suicidal thoughts have been a
problem on anti-depressant drugs in the last several years, especially
when given to teens. Well, today a Food and Drug Administration
advisory panel is considering whether regulators should approve US
sales of an obesity drug that has had patients in clinical trials
reporting suicidal thoughts or actions. This sounds to me to be a test
of whether the Food and Drug Administration truly has the population
in mind -- or, the drug company profits.

As a diet drug, the FDA said a 20-milligram dose of the drug, Zimulti
(rimonabant), produced clinically significant weight loss over one
year. Along with a low-calorie diet, the drug "was shown to reduce
body weight by approximately 5% relative to diet alone during trials
of more than 6000 moderately overweight and obese subjects.

Psychiatric problems represent the most common and worrisome
rimonabant-induced adverse events, the reviewers stated. Depression
was roughly twice as high for rimonabant patients compared with others
who received a placebo.

Let's see what happens. Will drug company profits come first, or the
safety of the USA population? A new diet pill represents potential
BILLIONS in sales.

D.