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Obesity Medication May Cause Depression, Suicide

-October 24, 2008

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recently issued a serious warning asking European medical professionals to stop prescribing rimonabant, a medication that promotes weight loss for obese individuals. The EMA is a drug regulation agency that functions in a similar way as the FDA does in the U.S.

Sold in Europe under the brand name Acomplia, rimonabant has been found to cause depression and increase the risk of suicide among certain patients.

Rimonabant in Europe, Not in the U.S.
From 2006 up until October 2008, rimonabant had been regularly prescribed throughout Europe as part of a course of treatment for obesity. In England alone, over 20,000 patients are currently taking rimonabant.

In June 2007, Sanofi-Synthelabo – the French pharmaceutical company who manufactures this medication – had applied to the FDA for approval to sell rimonabant in the U.S.

However, because the FDA raised questions about the psychiatric risks associated with the use of rimonabant, Sanofi-Synthelabo withdrew its application and vowed to perform further testing on the drug.

While Sanofi-Synthelabo also promised, at the time, to resubmit its new drug application to the FDA, recent findings of rimonabant's link to depression and suicide have precluded this event. Consequently, rimonabant has never been FDA-approved, nor has it ever been legally prescribed in the U.S.

The Negative Effects of Rimonabant
Since the FDA raised concerns about the risks of rimonabant, independent researchers and the medication manufacturer itself have both been conducting studies on the potential negative effects of rimonabant.

This research has found that:

• Patients taking rimonabant are two times more likely than those not taking the medication to develop psychiatric problems.

• Those taking rimonabant are five times more likely than peers not taking this medication to commit suicide.

Given such stark evidence of rimonabant's harm, anyone taking this medication should consult his/her doctor and discuss alternative treatment options.

(Source: BBC News)

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