Take Responsibility, Not Pills

It seems that barely a week can go by without news of another weight loss drug and its dangerous side-effects. This time it's something called Acomplia, manufactured by the French pharmaceutical group Sanofi-Aventis. It was rejected in the U.S. last year, and now it's been rejected in Europe as well.

"After reviewing data that suggests obese and overweight patients had twice the risk of developing psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and aggression, than those on a placebo, The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) determined the benefits no longer outweighed the risks for the drug – generically known as rimonabant."





Scroll down a bit further in the article and you'll find this:

"Between June and August of this year, five patients taking Acomplia as part of a clinical trial committed suicide. One person that was taking the placebo committed suicide."

That should stop you in your tracks. It means you're five times as likely to commit suicide while using this drug. This is all done out of the belief that chemicals should be mixed together to solve problems caused largely by behavior, not biology.

This was yet another drug meant to work by blocking hunger signals in the brain and suppressing the appetite, and I hate to hammer the same point over and over again (well, actually I don't... because that's how we remember things), but this is again a short-term solution to a long-term problem.

Even if the drug didn't cause depression, anxiety and aggression, there is still no plan in place for what you're supposed to do after you've lost the weight. Do you continue taking the drug forever? Do you stop taking it, and if so, what happens when your appetite is no longer suppressed?

[Hint: if your answer to that final question was "You gain back all the weight," you are correct.]

The article linked above also mentions that Big Pharma giant Merck said its newest appetite-suppressant won't make it to market, because it too causes depression and irritability.

The idea that the solution to your problems is taking a pill is in itself fraudulent. Behavior, not biology, causes the majority of people to become overweight and obese. In taking responsibility for your situation, you empower yourself to change it. By succumbing to the belief that it's not your fault, you surrender that power and become dependent on someone or something (i.e. a drug) outside of yourself to change it for you.

I'm glad these drugs will never make it to the market, and I credit those individuals responsible for blocking them. However, there are still many approved drugs that are also dangerous, and often the dangers are discovered too late, after people have been harmed from taking them.

Five people died in just a few months during the trials for this drug. There are thousands of people who've committed suicide after taking drugs that have been approved, and in fact are still on the market.

Take responsibility, not pills.

The only side-effects are that you feel more confident and empowered to change your life on your own.

You can live with that.