Dr. Bessesen pointed to the FDA’s rejection of three consecutive candidate anti-obesity drugs along with the removal of rimonabant and sibutramine from the market due to safety issues as evidence of a regulatory double-standard regarding weight-loss medications.
"I’m not minimizing the side effects of depression and suicidal ideation with rimonabant, but how much of a problem has an older drug like glyburide had with hypoglycemic complications? And yet it’s still on the market," he said. "I think there’s this idea out there that obesity is a behavioral problem and medications are perhaps not appropriate for it."
Dr. Bessesen said he had no relevant financial interests.