Results tagged “Weight-Loss Drugs” from Weight Loss & Nutrition News

By Sally Squires, Washington Post Staff Writer

The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first nonprescription drug for weight loss. Alli (pronounced AL-eye) is slated to hit shelves this year, according to its maker, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). That move has been denounced by some who say it should not be made so readily available because of limited efficacy and safety concerns.

Before you even consider this drug, there are some facts you need to know and some questions to ponder:

Gosh, how much weight can I lose with this new drug? First, the drug isn't new. It contains orlistat, a weight-loss medication that has been sold by prescription as Xenical for nine years worldwide and since 1999 in the United States. There have been about 100 studies of the drug involving some 30,000 people. The results suggest that users can shed as much as 50 percent more weight than they would by diet alone.

WASHINGTON - As more Americans struggle with growing waistlines, U.S. health officials Wednesday set out their own tips for drugmakers seeking to develop products for people trying to shed pounds.

The Food and Drug Administration’s draft guidelines — more than 10 years in the making — aim to help companies develop and test new drugs and devices for treating obesity.

About a third of U.S. adults, or more than 60 million people, are obese and another third are overweight, government statistics show. Nearly a fifth of U.S. children weigh too much.

The first non-prescription drug to treat obesity in American adults was approved Wednesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The drug, called alli (orlistat), is designed to be used only in tandem with a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet by overweight adults 18 and older. According to manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, the drug helps people lose 50 percent more weight than dieting alone, should cost consumers $12 to $25 a week and is expected to be available by this summer.

"This is the only FDA-approved, over-the-counter weight loss drug product," Dr. Charles J. Ganley, the FDA's director of the Division of Over-The-Counter Drug Products, said during a teleconference. "There are some products, primarily dietary supplements, that make weight-loss claims and those are not FDA-approved, although they are permitted to make these claims."

Anna Nicole Smith is being sued by a woman who insists the diet product the actress/model endorses is bogus.

Angry Janet Luna claims she used Trimspa X32 and expected the "rapid and substantial weight loss" the product promises - but it didn't work for her.

And yesterday, Luna filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging the advertising is "false or misleading."

Website TMZ.com, which obtained the lawsuit against Smith and Trimspa, points out that the plaintiff is possibly a minor, as the suit was filed by her mother, Myra Luna.

source Starpulse 

Fat burners have become very popular in today’s society, especially in America. It seems that everyone is looking for a “quick fix” to their problem…and that is why they, therefore, turn to those “awesome” fat burners where you can just pop a pill and “lose 30 pounds in 10 days!”

However, Here we will investigate some of the claims that they make such as:

- increased thermogenesis
- decreased appetite
- weight loss without exercising
- increased energy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) Jan 04 - Bayer AG and several smaller companies agreed to pay the U.S. government almost $26 million to settle allegations of false weight-loss advertising claims, the Federal Trade Commission said on Thursday.

The settlements involve Bayer's One-A-Day WeightSmart multi-vitamin, as well as the diet pills CortiSlim, TrimSpa and Xenadrine EFX, which are made and sold by other companies.

"You're not going to find weight loss in a bottle of pills," FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras told reporters. "These ads are encouraging consumers to postpone the tougher choices that have to be made when one wants to lose weight."

NEW YORK, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Reality Council, a group of experts on obesity, nutrition, diabetes and healthcare policy, today comments on the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) settlement with four leading weight loss pill manufacturers. The settlement requires the companies to change their advertising claims and pay a total of $25 million for civil penalties and consumer redress.

The settlement comes less than three months after the Reality Council issued a White Paper, "Help Not Hype: Getting Real About Weight Loss," that called on regulators to enforce existing laws and regulations that prohibit companies from making unsubstantiated weight loss claims.

The Reality Council applauds the efforts of the FTC, shining a national spotlight on the obesity epidemic and one of its underlying causes -- the false hope that lasting weight loss can be achieved rapidly or by taking a "magic" pill. Obesity -- America's largest and potentially most expensive epidemic -- hits home hard, impacting America's health and economy.

Jan. 4, 2007 -- The marketers of four weight-control pills will pay $25 million in false advertising claims alleged by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The FTC today announced that marketers of the four products -- Xenadrine EFX, CortiSlim, TrimSpa, and One-A-Day WeightSmart -- settled their cases and agreed to limit their future advertising claims.

"The common theme in these cases is the marketers made claims that their products contain new, breakthrough ingredients which are proven to cause weight loss or control weight. But the claims aren't supported by sound science," FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras told reporters in a teleconference.

"Paying for fad science and miracle ingredients is a good way to lose nothing but your cash," Majoras says.

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Americans are buying weight-loss pills from companies that are skirting around laws from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and avoiding regulation.

Dr. Louis Aronne tells CBS, "[These drugs] combine the worst of both worlds. There's no proof of effectiveness and no proof of safety. Why would you take something like this?"

According to estimates, Americans are spending $35 billion a year on weight-loss products, many of which have little-to-no effectiveness, and others actually harm patients.

by Valerie de Armas, Best Weight-loss

What do you think of the hundreds of weight loss supplements out there on the shelves today? Are they worth the money? Will they actually help you lose weight?

How do you know which ones are going to work for you? Is there any proof that these products work?

I've taken some time and researched some of the most popular product to try to find the answers for you. The truth is, most products won't help you lose anything but money.

There are a few, however, with some research behind them that prove that they actually work.

In a survey of 3,500 people, a University of Connecticut team discerned that 34 percent of Americans trying to lose weight are using supplements – an encouraging indicator for the dietary supplement industry.

The survey, funded by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, was conducted nationwide from November 2005 to January 2006. Nearly half of the respondents, or 1,444 people, said they had made a serious attempt to lose weight at some point in time for at least three days. Of these, approximately one third said they used supplements while only 15 percent used prescription drugs.

The results are encouraging for nutraceutical manufacturers: use of dietary supplements and herbal products came in third place, behind self-directed exercise and dieting, with 90 percent and 72 percent respectively.

Bloomberg - Sanofi-Aventis SA's new diet pill, Acomplia, may get limited sales in Germany because the treatment is being targeted by a national plan to trim health-care spending.

A German panel of doctors and insurers earlier this month recommended the government classify Acomplia as a ``lifestyle'' drug, not one that is necessary for treating a disease. The proposal, if carried out, means the medicine's 100-euro ($127.40) a month cost won't be reimbursed covered by state health insurance plans, and will probably inhibit sales.

The recommendation is part of Germany's strategy to reduce medical expenses, echoing a new round of health-spending cutbacks in several European countries. Rejecting coverage for new and expensive medicines would threaten several drugmakers, such as New York-based Pfizer Inc. and Sanofi, France's largest pharmaceutical company. Some doctors say that taking aim at Acomplia is short-sighted because obesity is becoming a pandemic.