REPORT ON THE NIH WORKSHOP ON PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF OBESITY

A National Institutes of Health workshop on pharmacologic treatment of obesity concluded that pharmacologic agents may be effective in reduc ing body weight over an extended period of time. Drugs should be used as only one component of a comprehensive weight-reduction program, and additional research is needed on the long-term efficacy and safety of drugs for obesity, and especially for combinations of drugs. Improvem ent in comorbidities and risk factors of obesity should be used along with weight reduction as an outcome measure in clinical trials. Indust ry, professional societies, and governmental agencies should work toge ther to explore the potential for drugs for obesity and to reassess th e regulatory and administrative controls on the use of currently avail able drugs for obesity and on the approval process for future drugs.