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New Diet Pill Can Do The Job Or Do A Number
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By Bill Hendrick
FFollow the directions on the new over-the-counter weight loss pills and you should be able to trade in your size 36 pants for 34's in no time.
Or get that dress size down from a 10 to an 8.
But if you don't read the fine print in the package inserts, you could wind up changing your clothes for other reasons. Embarrassing ones.
GlaxoSmithKline's new "alli" diet pills do work - the first over-the-counter weight loss drugs ever approved by the Food and Drug Administration. And they'll be in supermarkets and pharmacies no later than today.
The FDA, which approved alli in February, said that in clinical trials, people using it lost an additional two to three pounds for every five pounds lost through diet and exercise.
CVS said its 6,200 pharmacies will sell the pills. The pills also will be available at Costco, Target, Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores.
Joe Cadle, a marketing executive for GlaxoSmithKline, said the company is spending $150 million on marketing.
"We estimate that to ship all the product to fill orders will take a line of 18-wheelers five miles long," Cadle said. "The retailers want it."
But there is a potential downside to the drug, which the company forthrightly stresses on its Web site, myalli.com.
People who don't follow the directions for the new medication could suffer intestinal problems, like oily "leakages," flatulence and more frequent and
urgent trips to the bathroom, according to the Web site. Indeed, Glaxo urges users to start the program on a weekend, and stay close to home.
But for the millions who read the rules, consume no more than 15 grams of fat per meal and maintain an exercise program, alli (pronounced al-eye) could be a godsend, said Cadle.
Those folks, he said, will lose 50 percent more weight over a six-month period than they would without the pills. But the pills alone won't take weight off. Cadle said exercise and diet are essential parts of the program.
Dr. Anne Dunlop, a professor of preventive medicine at Emory University, said that because the pill can block absorption of some essential nutrients, users should take a multivitamin every day.
Demand is expected to be brisk because two-thirds of Americans are obese, and millions never stop looking for a "magic bullet," said Robert Thompson, a popular culture expert at Syracuse University.
"People will buy hope, and for this they won't even have to ask their doctor," he said.
That's good news for Glaxo-SmithKline. The over-the-counter drug market is huge. About 15 percent of U.S. households buy weight loss products at least once a year, according to ACNielsen, a marketing research firm. In addition, they spend some $250 million a year on prescription weight loss drugs.
Glaxo could use a boost. Its shares dropped about 8 percent when a recent report found that the company's widely prescribed diabetes pill, Avandia, raised the risk of heart attacks. But Cadle said Glaxo expects some 6 million Americans to buy alli, which could translate into $1.5 billion a year in retail sales.
A 60-capsule kit will cost about $50, and $60 will purchase 90. People are supposed to take three pills a day for no more than six months.
Books, such as one titled "Are You Losing It? Losing weight without losing your mind," are already in stores. The Web site tells readers that losing weight won't be easy, and that unless they follow instructions, success will be elusive. But it also crows that those who do and who'd lose 10 pounds just dieting will lose 15 with the pills.
"Alli is based on good things like hard work, smart choices and gradual weight loss" and "is not a miracle pill or a quick fix," the Web site reads.
It also warns of "gas with oily spotting, loose stools, more frequent stools that may be hard to control," but that side effects can be reduced "if you limit your fat to 15 grams per meal."
Experts pointed out that orlistat, the active ingredient in alli, has been used since 1999 in the prescription drug Xenical, sold by Roche Holding. Xenical contains twice the dosage of alli, but never really caught on because people didn't like the side effects.
Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, says "Big Pharma" is thinking a lot more about possible side effects because of its experience with drugs pulled off the market, which is why GlaxoSmithKline didn't try to gloss over side effects.
Dr. Lawrence Phillips, an endocrinologist and professor in the Emory University School of Medicine, said, "A lot of people will try it for a while and if they have a bad experience or no weight loss, stop. My advice, 'Read the fine print and have your eyes open.' "
The pill can't legally be sold to people under 18, and only those who are overweight, or those with a body mass index of 25 or more, should try it, said Dunlop. Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. Emory offers an online calculator for computing BMI at www.emoryhealthcare.org/departments/bariatrics/about-us/bmi-c alculator.html
Source: New London DayAll rights reserved.