The European Medicines Agency has decided that the benefits of orlistat-containing weight loss drugs, including GlaxoSmithKline’s Alli and Roche’s Xenical, outweigh the risk of very rare liver-related side effects. The regulator launched a review of the drugs in September in light of some rare cases of severe liver injury among patients. It said on Thursday that the drugs were beneficial in the treatment of obese or overweight patients with a body mass index of 28 kg/m2 or above. However, it recommended that labelling for the medicines, including nationally authorised orlistat-containing generics, was harmonised to ensure the warning about liver damage was consistent.
