EMEA Looking At Xenical, No Cause For Alarm
Written by Jamie Stowe | Tuesday, 27 September 2011 | There is 1 comment
in many of the cases there were other explanations for the liver injuries
There has been some confusion regarding the recent statement issued by the European Union’s Medical regulator, the EMEA with regard to the weight loss medication Xenical saying that the drug would be continued to be reviewed in line with standard practice. Some people took this to mean that the drug was being investigated because of possible new side effects but this is not the case.
All medicines which are approved by the European Union for sale and marketing are constantly being reviewed and subjected to new labeling, reports of side effects and recommendations of use. In the case of Xenical, any adverse effects reported by any patients in the European Union go to a central database so that patterns and similarities can be observed and acted upon if need be.
In the case of orlistat which is the active ingredient of Xenical, there have been concerns that the drug could be connected with higher rates of severe liver injury which therefore need to be investigated and the European Medicines Agency said that they would continue to collect evidence.
To give you an idea of the statistics involved, 38 million patients are said to have used Xenical in the European Union however only 21 cases of liver toxicity were reported between 1997 and 2011. The EMEA said that in many of the cases there were other explanations for the liver injuries.
The EMEA and the American FDA are the two strictest drug regulators in the world and no matter how obscure and irrelevant side effects are they are always recorded to see if any patterns emerge.
It should also be remembered that one of the biggest causes of severe liver injury his obesity and it is also very possible that the reported cases have nothing to do with the use of Xenical or the lower strength version of orlistat, Alli. Statistically you are in much more danger of suffering from liver injuries as a result of being overweight and then you are from using Xenical.
Being overweight increases the chances of you suffering from hundreds of serious illnesses such as cancer and heart disease and you should always do something about its sooner rather than later.
