• February 8, 2007

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday announced approval of the first government-sanctioned non-prescription diet pill. GlaxoSmithKline will market it as "alli," a name chosen to indicate a partnership with consumers in their weight loss efforts.

The drug, a version of the fat-blocking weight-loss pill orlistat, is intended for people 18 and older.

Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, called the approval "the height of recklessness." Wolfe said studies have associated the prescription version of the drug with precancerous lesions of the colon. He has also called for withdrawal of the prescription version.