With the U.S. obesity rates approaching 35 percent of adults, many are excited to get “their first extensive look at the first of a trio of new weight loss drugs this week. The hope is that the new drugs can succeed where many others have failed: delivering significant weight loss without risky side effects.” (Matthew Perrone, Washington AP, 7/12).
As a personal injury and products liability attorney in Chicago, I am always skeptical of new drugs, and weight loss drugs in general, especially since “two of the drugs submitted for approval simply combine existing drugs – an anticonvulsant and an amphetamine – but have worrying side effects. The third, a new medication, is safer but less effective.” Results of the FDA review are due shortly.
The obesity endemic in this country is certainly troubling, but, as always, proper and thorough testing of impending drugs is necessary.
