Qnexa for weight loss approved

I guess it's too difficult to go to GNC and click on weight loss... better of with the tried and true chemical approach.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20120222/fda-panel-votes-favor-weight-loss-drug-qnexa?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Clinical trials have shown that Qnexa has a favorable effect on most heart disease risks, including weight, blood pressure, HDL -- or “good”-- cholesterol, and progression to diabetes. However, the drug was shown to raise heart rate, which previous research has shown increases heart attack risk.

It’s not yet known whether Qnexa’s effects on heart disease risks will translate to a lower risk of heart disease. Panelist Michael Lauer, MD, one of the two “no” votes Wednesday, noted several other examples in which improved indicators for heart disease, such as cholesterol levels, proved to be misleading.

“I remember the cases of the anti-arrhythmic drugs. They were supposed to save lives, but they ended up killing people,” said Lauer, director of the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Approval of Qnexa at this stage, he said, would be based on “hopes and suppositions.”

But several speakers at the meeting’s public hearing cited the need for more options for treating obesity. Joe Nadglowski, president and CEO of Obesity Action Coalition, which he described as a 35,000-member patient advocacy group, said there’s “a significant treatment gap from Weight Watchers to (bariatric) surgery.”