"None of the obesity drugs

... have actually been shown to improve health outcomes, such as cardiovascular events (e.g., heart attack, stroke) or cardiovascular deaths of patients. There is some evidence that they decrease weight in the short term, blood pressure and blood glucose control. However, this does not always translate into improvements in the health of the patient. In addition, we don't know what the long-term harms are associated with the drugs. So for these manufacturers to actually show a health benefit along with these drugs is incredibly difficult, because the weight loss is so modest that it would take a huge study to show any kind of health benefit and it would also take a pretty good-sized study to show the harms associated with the drugs."

— Jim Carlson, Pharm.D., vice president for professional pharmacy services at OmedaRx, told AIS's Drug Benefit News.