Health Concerns

Why Won’t the Government Just Let Us Take Superstrong Diet Pills?

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Well, bad news, fellow gluttons. The Food and Drug Administration has yet again decided not to approve a new prescription diet pill. Last October, the FDA denied us the freedom to take amazing new weight-loss drugs called lorcaserin and Qnexa — BTW: Who gets to come up with these names? They sound like awesome creatures from Greek mythology — and today the Times reports that the agency has denied approval to another new diet drug called Contrave. They say Contrave’s maker, Orexigen Therapeutics, has to first demonstrate that the drug won’t cause heart attacks or something. So! There go our plans for getting back into bikini shape. Now what are we supposed to do? Eat more vegetables? Thanks but no thanks, new USDA dietary guidelines. Guess we’ll just have to start drinking more.

F.D.A. Declines to Approve Diet Drug [NYT]

Why Won’t the Government Just Let Us Take Superstrong Diet Pills?