Counting On Diet Drug To Lose Weight Can Be Costly

Finally, the Food and Drug Administration accepted the one-year-old recommendation by its advisory committee and Wednesday approved orlistate as an over-the-counter (OTC) diet drug indicated for OVERWEIGHT adults age 18 or older to freely buy and use.

This TOC diet drug, to be sold under the trade name of Alli, has the same ingredient as the prescription diet drug xenical, which was approved in 1999. Both contain orlistat. Both are made by Roche Holding AG and marketed or to be marketed by GlaxoSmithKline PLC.


The difference is, Alli contains 60 mg orilistat per capsule and is indicated for overweight adults while xenical contains 120 mg per capsule and is for obese adults.

Both diet drugs work only if patients follow a comprehensive program designed to boost the weight loss effect of orlistat. In early trials, participants were offered advice on nutrition and exercise. more at foodconsumer