Public Citizen Calls for Alli & Xenical to be Banned over Kidney, Liver Injuries

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Breaking News: Consumer watchdog group Public Citizen has filed a petition with federal safety regulators to have the weight loss drugs Xenical & Alli removed from the U.S. market after reviewing reports of kidney and liver damage in a high number of patients. To date, at least 48 cases of acute pancreatitis and 73 cases of kidney stones have been linked to the drugs. The petition marks Public Citizen’s second attempt in less than five years to have the drugs banned.

Free Alli / Xenical Case Evaluation: If you or a loved one has developed adverse side effects after taking either Alli or Xenical, you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to compensation by filing a lawsuit and we can help.

What’s the problem?

April 19, 2011 – Last week, the consumer watchdog group Public Citizen sent a petition to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) calling for the removal of weight-loss drugs Alli & Xenical from the U.S. market, claiming that the risk of side effects from these medications greatly outweigh any benefit.

Public Citizen’s petition came on the heels of a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine just days before which concluded that approximately two percent of Xenical users were hospitalized for kidney-related injuries.

According to the FDA’s adverse event database, at least 47 cases of acute pancreatitis and 73 cases of kidney stones have been linked to the drugs. In May 2010, the Administration published a drug safety alert about possible liver problems with the drugs, citing at least 13 cases of severe liver injuries among users. Two of these patients died as a result of their injuries, and three required total liver transplants.

According to Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group: “Any one of these serious risks alone would be sufficient basis for banning Xenical and Alli. These drugs have the potential to cause significant damage to multiple critical organs, yet they provide meager benefits in reducing weight loss in obese and overweight patients.”

Indeed, evidence has shown that weight loss by orlistat users is minimal. Individuals taking Xenical while dieting and exercising lost only seven pounds more than those who just dieted and exercised over the course of an entire year. Non-prescription Alli users lost a mere 5.6 pounds more than a control group who took no such medications in the same time period.

Alli / Xenical Overview

First approved by the FDA in 1999, Xenical (orlistat 120mg) is a prescription medication used in overweight individuals who may also have high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, or heart disease. Alli (orlistat 60mg) is a lower dose, over-the-counter weight loss drug first approved in 2007. The drugs’ active ingredient orlistat is in a class of medications called lipase inhibitors that work by preventing some of the fat in foods from being absorbed by the body. Both Alli and Xenical are marketed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), though Xenical is manufactured by Roche. In 2008 alone, Xenical generated sales of $30 million and Alli generated sales of $131 million during its first full year on the market.

Do I have an Alli / Xenical Lawsuit?

The Product Liability & Defective Drug Litigation Group at our law firm is an experienced team of trial lawyers that focus on the representation of plaintiffs in Alli & Xenical lawsuits. We are handling individual litigation nationwide and currently accepting new kidney and liver injury cases in all 50 states.