Alli Oops! A Real Mess for Drug Campaign [1]
Submitted by Bob Burton [2] on
GlaxoSmithKline [3] (GSK) has launched a $150 million promotion campaign for its over-the-counter (OTC) weight loss drug, Alli [4]. But not all media coverage is up-beat about what is a lower-dose version of Roche [5]'s prescription only drug, Xenical [6]. New York Daily News reporter Julian Kesner reports that Alli consumers "might just find themselves $50 poorer, lacking in vitamins ... and suffering a bout of diarrhea." GSK has produced a video [7] on what it refers to as "treatment effects," which the product pack states may include "more frequent stools that may be hard to control." A consumer coalition, Prescription Access Litigation, has given GSK its 'With Allies Like This, Who Needs Enemas?' [8] award for marketing the drug over-the-counter, where there are less controls to ensure it is used appropriately. In February this year, the Australian drug regulator revoked [9] Roche's approval to market Xenical with direct-to-consumer advertising [10], as there "was insufficient public health benefit."