More on Rimomabant & Suicide
When I read about new diet drugs, I like to do a little investigating. I found some news at Medline Plus and
Large clinical trials demonstrated that rimonabant does work: it helps patients lose weight. However, trials also show that 26 percent of people taking the drug reported psychiatric symptoms like anxiety, phobias, depression and post-traumatic stress disorders. The drug doubled the rate of suicidal thoughts.
An FDA advisory panel of 14 voted unanimously, advising the FDA not to approve this drug for weight loss. Last year, the FDA rejected it for use to stop smoking.
Oh.. I got a kick out of the final line in the Medline Plus story:
Rimonabant works by blocking the same pleasure centers in the body that are triggered when marijuana users get hungry. Blocking the receptors reduces hunger, and people eat less and lose weight.
Hhmmm… a drug that blocks some pleasure sensors sometimes induces depression and suicidal thoughts? Who’d a thunk? 