Could this be the very worst drug approved in 2014?

It was one of the last drug approvals of 2014.

And it may be one of the worst.

I first warned you about this drug back in September. That’s when Novo Nordisk had a date with the FDA about a deadly new way to use its diabetes drug Victoza.

One that had nothing to do with diabetes.

Novo needed to secure a brand new patent, and a brand new money-maker.  So it packaged Victoza up as a diet pill and gave it a brand new name – Saxenda.

I know, it sounds insane. But even crazier is that the FDA went for it, and allowed Saxenda to be used for weight loss – and at double the dose!

Now Victoza is bad enough. It puts patients at risk for thyroid cancer, pancreatitis and life-threatening allergic reactions.

And Saxenda, which comes out the door with a black box warning for thyroid tumors, is probably at least twice as bad since it will be prescribed at twice the dose.

Novo is probably thinking it’s on a winning streak. It dodged a bullet last year when the FDA refused to respond to several requests from the group Public Citizen that Victoza be banned immediately because it was too dangerous to be on the market.

And then it gets that Christmas present from the FDA in December approving Saxenda.

But, when you hear Saxenda’s side effects, you’ll see that there is some “logic” behind it being used as a weight-loss drug.

It must be all the nausea, vomiting and acute diarrhea it can cause that keeps people from eating too much. Those effects certainly won’t do a thing for your appetite.

Novo says right on the package that the drug will help you lose weight through “decreased calorie intake.”

And now we know exactly how it works.

Source:

“Novo Nordisk kick-starts its obesity franchise with a long-awaited FDA nod” Damian Garde, December 23, 2014, FierceBiotech, fiercebiotech.com