…and the inability to control them
“So,” sez my wife, “there are going to be a lot of people oozing around here.”
“Huh?”
Seems she saw an ad from CVS or Walgreens advertising Alii, a weight-loss drug recently approved by the FDA for over the counter sales.
The full strength Alli is known as Xenical. The most memorably thing about Xenical were its commercials — not the commercials per se, but the disclaimer they contained.
It included this unforgettable warning:
“Patients may experience gas with oily discharge, increased bowel movements, an urgent need to have them and an inability to control them.”
GlaxoSmithKline even has a book for Alli users, “Are You Losing It?” One piece of advice the book gives — seriously — is that you wear dark-colored clothing when you first start taking the stuff.
Wow.
The Junkfood Science blog gives some more details.
According to Dr. Susan Norris, M.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, despite unimpressive weight losses, “gastrointestinal adverse effects (explosive diarrhea, fecal incontinence, abdominal cramping, anal leakage and oily discharge) were common.”
And Alli doesn’t even do that much for you:
In clinical trials, those taking Alli-strength Orlistat along with dieting and exercise for a full year, lost an average of under 3 pounds more than those who were dieting and exercise alone.
Not surprising, since Alli users are required (by common sense if nothing else) to have a low-fat diet.
Here’s a screenshot from a GlaxoSmithKline video on Alli:
So, any questions?
Emily says:
And fuzzy gloves won’t help at all!