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Article: Panel recommends OTC status for diet pill
- Article from:
- Charleston Gazette
- Article date:
- January 24, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2006 Charleston Gazette. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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WASHINGTON - Federal health advisers voted Monday to recommend
over-the-counter sales of a weight-loss pill now sold only with a
prescription.
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare still needs final Food and
Drug Administration approval before it can sell a nonprescription
version of orlistat, a diet pill already marketed in prescription
form as Xenical. The FDA approved the prescription version of the fat-
blocking pill made by Roche in 1999.
A joint FDA advisory committee voted 11-3 to recommend approval
late Monday following a daylong hearing. The agency usually follows
the recommendations of its outside panels of experts, but its final
decision could take months. If approved, orlistat ...