Alli News Abstract 26
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/01/21/meridia-another-diet-drug-warning/
It’s been a tough week for diet drugs. First, there were warnings that some people going to online auction sites to buy GlaxoSmithKline’s
Alli weren’t getting the real thing. Instead, they were getting a counterfeit version that actually used the active ingredient from another diet drug — Abbott’s Meridia.
Today, it’s Meridia’s turn for trouble. European regulators said the drug — known generically as sibutramine, and sold in the EU under the brand names Reductil, Reduxade and Zelium — should be pulled from the market. In the U.S., the FDA said the drug shouldn’t be taken by patients with a history of heart disease — a significant limitation for a diet drug, given the link between heart disease and obesity.