Doctors led by Arne Astrup, a professor at the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen have analyzed previous studies and believe there is an increased risk of depression and anxiety in people taking the weight loss pill rimonabant.
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n June the U.S FDA rejected the drug on safety grounds. Patients in trials successfully loss that was 10.3 pounds higher than those on a placebo. However, they also experienced a 40 per cent increase in "adverse" or "serious adverse" events, according to Astrup's study.
Patients taking rimonabant were 2.5 times more likely to stop taking the medication because of depression and 3 times more likely to stop because of anxiety as compared to those on the placebo. The significance is important because patients were screened for depression and excluded from the study.
All 14 of the FDA's Advisory Committtee voted against approving rimonabant after hearing evidence that it was linked to an increased risk of suicide. Sanofi-Aventis had hope that the drug they planned to market under the brand name Zimulti would become a big seller.
[Source: Yahoo News]
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