Friday, August 19, 2016

Morning Flush

"A popular weight-loss pill was buoyed by studies that understated its harms" by Rebecca Robbins, August 16, 2016

A weight-loss pill, known to scientists as orlistat, and marketed in the US as Alli, has generated hundreds of millions in sales but has slumped in recent years in part because of a reputation for unpleasant gastrointestinal side effects.

When GlaxoSmithKline launched the drug over-the-counter as Alli in 2007, it blew through the gates, selling $155 million in its first weeks on the market. The drug, which is meant to be paired with diet and exercise, works by preventing the body from absorbing fat. But excreting lots of fat makes the stool oily, leading to gastrointestinal side effects for many patients.

You'll be praying to Allah.

Even at the drug’s peak, warning signs were apparent. That’s an indication that “the balance between efficacy and harms is not very beneficial,” said Dr. Jeppe Schroll, lead author of the new analysis and a researcher at the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen....

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They downplayed the frequency of apparent side effects like diarrhea or incontinence because it's $eriou$ Bu$ine$$.

"Linde of Germany confirmed on Tuesday it was in talks to combine with Praxair, a deal that could bring together two of the world’s largest providers of industrial-gas products. A combination of the two companies would create an industrial giant with more than $30 billion in annual revenue — the kind of scale that other companies in the sector have sought to become more competitive globally. Linde’s gas division focuses on industrial and medical gases. Praxair’s main products include oxygen, carbon dioxide, and helium, and the company manufactures equipment to produce industrial gases...."

Comes with the oily stool.