Diet Drug Orlistat Linked to Kidney, Pancreas Injuries

Greasy, slimy, loose stools were not enough.

A review of patients taking the diet drug orlistat (Xenical/Alli, Roche) in Ontario, Canada over a seven-year period points to a 2% increase in acute kidney injuries within one year of patients starting the drug...

Separately, drug-safety watchdog Public Citizen has sent a 31-page letter to FDA commissioner Dr Margaret Hamburg demanding that the agency remove both prescription and over-the-counter orlistat from the market, citing new data obtained from FDA adverse-reaction files, including 47 cases of acute pancreatitis and 73 cases of kidney stones. This is the second time Public Citizen has petitioned the FDA to pull the drug from the market.

Oops.