FDA Looks Into Alli and Xenical: Liver Damage Concerns

Photos

Weight loss reduces heart disease in obese

see larger image

uploaded by Troy

On Monday the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began looking into the 32 cases of reported liver damaged caused by a weightloss drug Alli and prescription equivalent Xenical.

The weightloss drug has not been recalled: the FDA has no proof of Alli or Xenical causing liver damage. Of the 30 cases 27 resulted in hospitalization and 6 of the cases were treated for liver failure. A spokesperson for GlaxoSmithKline associates the cases to a correlation between obesity and liver conditions not the weightloss drug.

The most common symptoms attributed to Orlistat (Alli and Xenical) were Jaundice, weakness, and abdominal pain. Oralisit works in the gastrointestinal tract and is minimally absorbed in the blood stream; as a result, no apparent mechanism for the liver damage has been deduced. 

At this time the FDA has not released any definitive statement linking Orlistat with liver damage and has encouraged doctors to maintain current practices.