Tonight:
5°c
Anti-obesity pill is going on sale
Lucy Tobin and Sophie Goodchild21 Jan 2009
A PILL that causes weight loss was approved today for sale in Britain without a prescription for the first time.
The anti-obesity drug Alli costs £1 a day and trials have shown that volunteers who took it with every meal shed an average of 10lb.
Slimmers will be able to buy it over the counter from chemists after a decision from the European medicines watchdog.
GlaxoSmithKline has now won a licence to put it on shelves in Britain. It hopes sales will match those in America where the company made £75million from the drug within six months.
In the UK, obesity accounts for 30,000 deaths and 18 million sick days each year.
The country's "fat" epidemic also costs the NHS about half a billion pounds a year in treatment costs.
Tests indicate that a short course of Alli also improves overall health by lowering blood pressure and cutting cholesterol levels.
But use of the drug has already caused concern among medical experts. Obesity doctors warn the pills could be used by overweight people looking for a lazy option for losing weight.
The pills work by preventing the stomach absorbing fat and this fat passes out of the body as waste. But this process can cause side-effects including stomach upsets.
Dr Vidhu Bansal-Dev, from Glaxo's US healthcare division, said Alli will help people lose weight. She said: "It is the most extensively studied weight loss drug in the world and is proven to help people lose weight and feel better about themselves.”
But weight loss expert Professor Gareth Williams warns that Alli will only result in limited weight loss if taken without doctor's supervision.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, Professor Williams, from Bristol University, said taking it without medical supervision may achieve “the equivalent of leaving a few French fries on a plate or eating an apple instead of an ice cream”.
Another obesity drug Rimonabant, also known as Acomplia, was taken off the market last year after research found it doubled the risk of psychiatric disorders.
Five people on the drug killed themselves compared with one in the group taking a dummy drug between June and August last year during a trial involving 36,000 patients.
However Alli is being allowed over the counter after GlaxoSmithKline ensured it was a lower dose and had fewer side effects.
It should be used in conjunction with diet and exercise for the treatment of people who have a Body Mass Index of 28 or higher, the equivalent of a 5ft 5in woman weighing more than 12st 1lb.
Reader views (11)
A fool who says they have no time for obese people is a fool with little brain capacity!!
Obesity can be a cause of many medical conditions and no amount of dieting will help these people, the person who comments about an obese person without a full knowledge of medical conditions, side effects of prescription drugs and disability is a person who needs a miracle brain growth pill!
- Annoyed, uk, 02/02/2009 21:41
Report abuse
I find it disgusting that a pill is being to fat westerners so that they can eat more when children are dying from hunger in the third world. In my view, fitness has to be gained, not given - obese people will not LEARN from their mistakes (such as overeating) unless they have to make an effort to lose weight first.
- Osian, Cardiff, Wales, 27/01/2009 11:34
Report abuse
Reading the comments above, i am upset, they think that all fat people get that way by eating junk food.
I am very overweight and very desperate to lose some, my weight gain was not down to what i eat but medical.
i am disabled and a pensioner, so these pills have at least given me some hope.
- Eve, Northamptonshire, 23/01/2009 00:41
Report abuse
This is just going to send the wrong message to people thinking they can over do it with the calories and just have a tablet. What will be the side effects in the long term? I have been in this country for over 20 years and always have been cringing at seeing supermarket trolley full of junk food and no vegetable or fruit.Like many readers I agree that obesity just like smokers cost a lot of money to us tax payers although smokers do contribute a lot of money with the duty paid when they purchase a pack of cigarettes.It is a bad time we should stop being politicaly correct and make sure that all those fat slobs pay for their disgraceful eating habit. I.E. pay more for health insurance, extra seats to travel by air. Every one has the choice to eat in a healthy fashion. Stop giving a can of fizzy drinks and a packet of crisps to your kid for them to consume on their way to school as mean of breakfast.
- Sylvain, LONDON, 22/01/2009 09:25
Report abuse
Well, this will give an incentive for people to continue eating like there's no tomorrow. Just pop a pill and you'll be fine right?
Lose fat? Eat the right foods and just to keep going, if you enjoy your food to excess then you will remain obese for all time.
People have to have a strong enough reason to lose fat anyway, get the head right, and the body follows.....
- Steve, london, 22/01/2009 08:34
Report abuse
L Parker has completely missed the point. How much of the tax payers money do you think is already spent on the obese? A solution for the problem is surely better than repeated treatment.
- Eleanor, Melbourne, Australia, 22/01/2009 01:21
Report abuse
Isbel I may have mised the point but it still costs me as a Tax Payer - if they suffer side effect they will be going to the NHS not to GlaxoSmithKline which pocket it 75 million
"In the UK, obesity accounts for 30,000 deaths and 18 million sick days each year."
Sorry I just simply dont have time for Obese people- as I said it is a choice.
- L Parker, london, 21/01/2009 16:50
Report abuse
L Parker - I think you've missed the point - this pill will be available for people to buy over the counter - so they will pay market price.
- Isabel, Woking, 21/01/2009 16:33
Report abuse
If someone can get on Dragon's Den pronto, with a special new pad to take care of the - ahem - waste, it won't just be Glaxo who are in the money. Or will a Tenalady do?
- Karli, Tottenham, London, 21/01/2009 16:19
Report abuse
who is paying for these drugs???? Tax Payers again!!!!
Obesity is a choice, like smoking, drinking etc, these are lazy people why should I have to pay??? cant they have they jaws hired instead, or simply boot camp for 3 months on carrott juice? honestly
- L Parker, london, 21/01/2009 15:56
Report abuse
Think this should have gone on sale along time ago
Obesity causes severe problems
Good on Glaxo Smith Kline
- Linda Martin, surrey, 21/01/2009 15:20
Report abuse
