New Drugs V

Excerpt

Therapeutics Letter 34 reviews the new drugs orlistat, raloxifene, and spironolactone. Conclusions: In obese patients orlistat in combination with a low-fat diet (<30% of calories) reduces body weight by 3.3 kg in the first year as compared to placebo. Adverse gastrointestinal effects are frequent and it is unknown whether orlistat affects morbidity and mortality linked to obesity. Raloxifene reduced radiologic vertebral collapse in both the primary (ARR = 2.2%) and secondary prevention (ARR = 6.5%) settings, but had no effect on non-vertebral fractures (including hip fractures). Benefits for reduction in painful vertebral collapse and reduction in early breast cancer were small and of a similar magnitude to the harm of increased thromboembolic events.Spironolactone added to standard therapy represents a significant advance in the management of severe CHF.