Even if Belviq is heart safe, it’s still not safe to take

How a risky diet drug suddenly became ‘safe’

Eight years ago, Belviq, an Rx drug for weight loss, was getting some seriously bad press.

“Irresponsible,” is what Dr. Sidney Wolfe, then director of Public Citizen, called the FDA for approving it.

The medical advisors at Consumer Reports said that it had “risks galore” and urged people to “skip it.”

But now it’s all sunshine and roses where Belviq is concerned, with doctors assuring reporters that “This is a drug that is safe!”

So, how did that transformation occur?

Simple!

The drugmaker sponsored a study… filled it with researchers who work for the company… published the findings in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine… and let the media do the heavy lifting.

To read the glowing reports in the press now, with headlines such as “Diet drug Belviq is first shown not to hurt heart,” you would think that it’s as safe as mom’s apple pie!

But the real story here is how having friends in high places – and millions of dollars to spend to influence the FDA – can get pharma exactly what pharma wants.

And taking Belviq (or any other Rx diet pill on the market), is a mistake that far too many people have already made while simply hoping to improve their health by losing some weight.

Instead, however, they’re taking a risk with:

depression and suicidal thoughts,
changes in “attention or memory,” agitation, hallucinations, and confusion,
nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea,
stiff or rigid muscles,
a racing or slowed heartbeat,
“milky discharge” from the breasts in women,
increased breast size for guys, and
damage to heart valves.

After the fen-phen tragedy, when up to a third of the people prescribed that drug combo (a number that was in the many millions) developed heart-valve damage, the approval of diet drugs went flat.

However, this new pharma-run and pharma-sponsored study of Belviq, the first diet drug to come out of the gate after 13 years of the agency playing it safe, is said to have dismissed any heart worries with a wave of its magic safety wand.

But a frightening investigation done three years ago revealed exactly how prescription diet drugs started flooding the market again in the first place. No surprise here — it’s all about the money.

An inquiry done by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and MedPage Today uncovered how a massive “spending spree” by Big Pharma – to the tune of at least $60 million – greased the wheels to get these risky meds approved by the FDA.

Drugmakers handed out cash like it was candy to medical societies, doctors, and politicians. “Expert” groups started issuing guidelines approving the use of diet pills for weight loss – with $51 million of that bonanza being spent on lobbying efforts.

And it worked. Not only did Belviq get onto the pharmacy shelves, but so did four more diet drugs in fast order.

Where Belviq is concerned, however, despite the rosy headlines about how this drug has somehow been proven to be heart “safe,” the study turned up some other little tidbits.

One was that those taking Belviq for close to three-and-a-half years lost an average of 9 pounds. Heck, those not taking the drug managed to lose over 4 pounds (by simply being given access to “dietary and exercise information”), and they didn’t have to risk any of those side effects!

Other findings were that many people taking Belviq suffered from adverse reactions — such as dizziness, fatigue, nausea, and headaches — that were bad enough to have them drop out of the study. Others experienced dangerously low blood sugar and suicidal thoughts.

The bottom line here is that while shedding some extra pounds, be it 5 or 50, might seem only possible by taking powerful drugs, that’s not true!

A new study backed by the National Institutes of Health found that by simply cutting back on sugar, refined grains, and processed foods while adding plenty of fresh, whole foods and veggies to your diet can have you losing more weight than any of these drugs will.

In fact, some of the participants in this NIH study dropped as much as 50 to 60 pounds. Best of all, counting calories and measuring portions were not required!

And if you think that way of eating sounds a lot like the Mediterranean diet, you’re right! It’s what HSI panel member Dr. Mark Stengler has been recommending to his patients for years now.

As Dr. Stengler calls it, the Mediterranean diet is the “miracle ‘drug’ the world’s been waiting for.”

Which is something you’d never, ever say about Belviq!

“This weight loss drug is the first to succeed without heart risks, study finds” Fiza Pirani, August 27, 2018, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ajc.com