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BOSTON, Feb. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, in favor of recommending that the FDA approve the prescription obesity drug Qnexa. If approved, this will be the first time in more than a decade that a prescription weight-loss medication receives FDA approval. This landmark recommendation prompted the 2012 Cardiometabolic Health Congress (CMHC) expert faculty to weigh in on the implications of the potential approval of this novel obesity medication.
"I am pleased that the FDA advisory panel has been able to see a way forward to support therapies that will help patients and clinicians confront the obesity epidemic. While pharmacotherapy is not appropriate for everyone, it is important to have options to help patients," said Richard Pratley, MD, professor of medicine and director of the Diabetes and Metabolism Translational Medicine Unit at the University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington, VT.
Robert H. Eckel, MD, co-chair of the 2012 CMHC and professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, said, "I think the decision was a good one and is important for the academic and medical educational missions related to obesity and cardiovascular disease."
"It is a very interesting development and a bit surprising," said Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, Chief of Cardiology, VA Boston Healthcare System, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and senior investigator, TIMI Study Group. He added, "I still think that a large study evaluating cardiovascular safety is needed."
The Chief Scientific Officer for the Association of Black Cardiologists and professor of clinical medicine at Tulane University School of Medicine, Keith C. Ferdinand, MD, cautioned that, "The fight against obesity needs to be multifactorial, including new medications. As a cardiologist, however, I consider it paramount that all c
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