Playing The Odds With Your Health
The FDA is investigating reports that a drug called orlistat, which is in the over the counter diet drug Alli and it’s prescription cousin Xenical, is the cause of some liver damage.
These two diet drugs work by preventing fat from being absorbed into the intestines. The difference between the two drugs is that Xenical has about twice as much orlistat as Alli does.
The numbers are very low with only thirty-two cases of liver damage and six cases of liver failure, out of over 11 million people taking the drug. Interestingly enough, is the fact that only two of these cases were in the United States, and spanned from 1999 to 2008.
The FDA is not concerned and does not plan on putting out a warning, in fact they if you’re taking the drug to keep taking it unless you experience symptoms of liver problems like jaundice, dizziness, and any other ill feeling from the drug.
The problem as I see it is that even if it causes only one case of liver problems , who wants to be that one case? It’s one thing to take your risks with a drug you need to live, but we’re talking here about a diet aide drug. If you don’t need a drug, be it over the counter or not, the best thing to do is to not take it.
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