Fen-Phen, an off-label combination of two Rx drugs, was voluntarily withdrawn in 1997, after numerous reports of heart-valve disease. Its maker paid $3.75 billion to thousands of claimants.

Dexatrim, an OTC diet aid, was linked in 2000 to hemorrhagic stroke. Its maker Chattem settled a class-action lawsuit for up to $15 million. (more…)

Continued from Alli Weight Loss Drug.

Dr. James Early, a University of Kansas professor who heads a weight clinic, and Dr. Louis Aronne, an obesity specialist at Weill Cornell Medical College (and a paid consultant to GSK during Alli’s testing) answer questions about Alli diet pill.

Who is Alli for? Aronne: It’s approved for people 18 and older. They should be overweight (body-mass index of 27 or higher) and committed to a low-fat diet. It’s not for them if they think it’s a magic pill. (more…)

Continued from Alli Diet Pills. Some contend that Alli’s benefits — Alli’s maker GlaxoSmithKline claims 50 percent more weight loss than with a low-calorie diet and exercise alone — aren’t worth potential risks.

Dr. Sidney Wolfe, of Ralph Nader’s watchdog association Public Citizen, petitioned the FDA to deny Alli’s approval, citing a study linking Orlistat to “precancerous colon lesions” in rats. Says Wolfe: “This is the height of recklessness.”

In its response the FDA wrote, “evidence … does not support a causal relationship between Orlistat and colorectal carcinoma.” Since going on sale June 15, Alli ($50 for a two-month supply) is, anecdotally, an early hit. (more…)

Here’s the deal: If you’re taking the new over-the-counter diet drug Alli, and you want the chicken with crispy noodles, you have to really, really want the chicken with crispy noodles.

Against her better judgment, Alli-user Caryn Eyring, 39, ordered just such a chicken appetizer during a recent dinner out. “I knew darn well it was cooked in oil,” says Eyring, a Glendale, N.Y., secretary.

But she ate it anyway, and the next day suffered what she — and the official Alli Web site — calls “a treatment effect,” or an “oily diarrhea” that occurs when a person eats more than 15 grams of fat in a single meal. (more…)

Continued from Young Participants in Sports Use Diet Pills. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than one in seven adults in the United States have used nonprescription supplements in an effort to lose weight. (more…)