Development of Weight-Loss Medications Still a Challenge

In the past eighty years, several weight-loss medications have been made available for the treatment of obesity. All of those drugs were subsequently pulled from the market after their approval because of serious adverse effects, including fatal hyperthermia, pulmonary hypertension (PHT), iatrogenic hyperthyroidism, valvular heart disease and hemorrhagic stroke.

In October of 2008, the development of two of the latest weight-loss medications was terminated due to safety and efficacy reasons. The development of taranabant, the generic name for a trial medication being tested for the fight against obesity, was stopped by Merck & Co., Inc. on the basis of safety. A few weeks later, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) found that rimonabant (Acomplia®), an appetite-reducing drug, had more risks than benefits.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated their recommendations for weight management drugs in February of 2007, making it even harder for new medications to receive approval. The updated recommendations involved issues of testing drug effectiveness over a certain period of time, guaranteeing subjects who took drug lost a certain percentage of body weight, having specific safety assessments on these drugs, as well as others concerns.

There are currently over 300 million obese adults globally, making the development of weight-loss drugs that are safe and effective exceedingly crucial. If you or a loved one has suffered harm as a result of a pharmaceutical error, call or e-mail our medical malpractice lawyers to discuss your legal rights. We can answer any questions you may have and examine your potential case thoroughly. We serve clients with Bronx pharmaceutical error, Brooklyn pharmaceutical error, Queens pharmaceutical error, Nassau pharmaceutical error and Suffolk pharmaceutical error cases.

Call us toll-free, 1-877-ASK4SAM, and visit www.ask4sam.net