Study: Obesity Group Seeks to Keep Meridia on the Market

The American Obesity Association (AOA) has urged Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to block efforts to withdraw Meridia (sibutramine), a popular weight-loss drug, from the market.

A petition to that effect was submitted earlier this year by Public Citizen, which asked the Food and Drug Administration to immediately remove Meridia from the market contending it has been linked with 29 deaths and hundreds of serious adverse reactions (see earlier Obesity Week story).

The AOA said it strongly disagreed with Public Citizen's effort to require that every drug used to treat obesity prove the benefit of weight loss, and took issue with Public Citizen calling Meridia a "diet drug," contending that such labeling trivializes the life and death condition of obesity.

The AOA receives funding from leading companies in the treatment of obesity including Abbott Laboratories, makers of Meridia.

Other sources: American Obesity Association