Obesity Pill Gets FDA Endorsement: Are Drugs The Answer?

In the Lake Elsinore Unified School District, 34 percent of fifth graders have too much body fat,

Given that some of these kids will surely add to the population of an estimated 75 million obese adults in the United States today, does the answer to controlling obesity lie in a pill?

At a public meeting Wednesday, a Food and Drug Administration panel of outside physicians voted 20-2 in favor of endorsing a weight loss drug from Mountain View, Calif.-based Vivus, the Associated Press reported.

The drug Qnexa was previously rejected by the FDA due to concerns over cardiovascular side effects, but Wednesday’s endorsement may give hope to some obese Americans.

In giving their approval, the panelists stressed that Vivus must conduct a large, follow-up study of the pill's effects on the heart, the Associated Press reported.

The FDA is not required to follow the advice of its panels, but the Associated Press reports that it often does. A final decision on the drug is expected by mid-April.

The physicians said Vivus could conduct the cardiovascular safety study after an FDA approval, the Associated Press reported. A requirement to conduct the study ahead of market approval would take at least three more years, according to the Associated Press.

Given America’s growing obesity problem, the physicians said there is an “urgent need” for better pharmacologic options, according to the Associated Press.

Analysts expect a new weight loss pill to garner at least 10 million users within a few years, the Associated Press reported. The numbers suggest that a drug maker has the potential to make significant revenue.

The are many local initiatives underway to combat obesity that don't involve drugs.

Last December, the Riverside County Children & Families Commission, otherwise known as First 5 Riverside, The commission identified six target areas for which it was seeking proposals -- nutrition and physical activity was one of the six.

Last October, the county kicked off a year-long awareness campaign that encouraged students and their parents to walk to school in an effort to combat childhood obesity. The "International Walk to School Day" was promoted across the county, including the LEUSD.

But whether these types of programs will have any meaningful impact on habits remains to be seen.

In the meantime, obesity is costing America -- healthwise and financially. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the medical care costs of obesity in the United States "are staggering." In 2008 dollars, the costs totaled about $147 billion.