The Food and drug Administration in the US has approved a new weight loss pill. The drug, whose name has been changed from Qnexa to Qsymia (in order to rule out possible confusion with other drugs of a similar name), was approved yesterday and is no doubt a very welcome addition to the sparse range of weight loss treatments available today. At trial stage, patients on average lost 10% of their body weight over 12 months, with many losing considerably more. This will offer many weight loss patients in the States an alternative to invasive and risky surgeries.
It is likely that the pharmaceutical company, Vivus, will meet with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) this coming September. We are expecting a positive outcome and will be surprised if a license in not granted for the EU. Prescribing restrictions may be placed on this medication and we may decide that it is not appropriate for online prescribing. At the moment it looks like we could prescribe online with very strict controls and regular patient contact. We will only be able to make a final decision on this when we have a full response from the European Medicines Agency.