Drug Management of Obesity — Efficacy versus Safety

The history of pharmacologic treatment of obesity is characterized by repetition: most drugs that have achieved regulatory approval and reached the markets have subsequently been withdrawn owing to postmarketing discovery of serious adverse effects. In 2007, the cannabinoid-receptor antagonist rimonabant was not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and was withdrawn from the market in Europe because of an increased risk of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation1; the development program for several compounds of the same class that were in phase 3 studies had to be terminated. In January of this year, the European Medicine Agency's Committee . . .