Submitted by Bob Burton on
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has launched a $150 million promotion campaign for its over-the-counter (OTC) weight loss drug, Alli. But not all media coverage is up-beat about what is a lower-dose version of Roche's prescription only drug, Xenical. New York Daily News reporter Julian Kesner reports that Alli consumers "might just find themselves $50 poorer, lacking in vitamins ... and suffering a bout of diarrhea." GSK has produced a video on what it refers to as "treatment effects," which the product pack states may include "more frequent stools that may be hard to control." A consumer coalition, Prescription Access Litigation, has given GSK its 'With Allies Like This, Who Needs Enemas?' award for marketing the drug over-the-counter, where there are less controls to ensure it is used appropriately. In February this year, the Australian drug regulator revoked Roche's approval to market Xenical with direct-to-consumer advertising, as there "was insufficient public health benefit."
Printer-friendly version
Comments
Pani113 replied on Permalink
What Difference Does it Make?
What difference does it make to BigPharma what the side effects are? They can count them under obesity, just like the damages caused by fen-phen, weight loss surgery, and the hundreds of other risky weight loss practices including the tape worm "cure" of previous decades. (Weight obsession is not new, it has been with us since at least 1920.) Then again, if people are dumb enough to buy into it, I give up. Sell your souls and ruin your bodies if it is worth it to you! I have read that the side effects of this drug can be so severe accidents can happen before one even knows it. We ALL need to start looking before we sit down in public! As if we didn't have enough to worry about!