Sanofi Weight Loss Drug Rejected
Washington - Rimonabant, a weight loss drug that was believed to increase the risk of suicidal thoughts, was unanimously rejected by a panel of federal health advisers, especially after Sanofi-Aventis SA, the manufacturer, was unable to show that the drug is safe.
Panelist Dr. Jules Hirsch, a senior physician at New York’s Rockefeller University, was suspicious of the drug and urged that they watch the affair more closely before allowing it for massive use.
Dr. Amy Egan was worried after she found that there were twice as many psychiatric side effects with patients who were given the once-daily tablet, making the drug not appropriate for people who have been diagnosed with depression.
A University of Michigan neurologist, Panelist Dr. Sid Gilman urged that there is a need for further understanding to the drugs effect on a person’s psyche after knowing of the litany of mental problems connected to the drug.
Senior staff scientist at the Maine Center for Osteoporosis and panel chairman Dr. Clifford Rosen was troubled more about the company’s insufficient characterization of the drug’s safety.
Head of medical advocacy for the Council on Size & Weight Discrimination, Lynn McAfee, however, does not believe that depressed obese people will be prevented from using the drug, especially since there is a huge potential market for the drug due to the explosion in obesity rates in the past two decades, thereby creating only speculations as to the consequences.
Vanessa Arellano Doctor
PrimeHerbal -
Hoodia Gordonii14.06.2007. 14:22
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