FDA blasted for approving latest obesity drug while ignoring safety concerns

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today recklessly approved another diet drug, lorcaserin, the latest in a series of obesity-related pharmaceuticals that pose serious health threats. We expect that as with many of the other drugs, this one will be withdrawn from the market after the agency is forced to confront the many serious adverse health effects, such as heart valve damage, that will be reported.

In a last-ditch effort to keep yet another of these dangerous drugs off the market, Public Citizen on Tuesday wrote to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, warning her of the very negative consequences associated with lorcaserin (Belviq, manufactured by Arena Pharmaceuticals), and urging her not to approve it. Marketing this drug to a population besieged by obesity and desperate for relief is irresponsible and a mistake that will benefit only the company that makes it.

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