Pulminary hypertension, valvuopathy, stroke, suicidal ideation and behavior, myocardial infarction. These are the results of what were once promising weight-loss drugs no longer on the market.

Now the FDA has approved two more weight-loss drugs . They are meant for the obese (BMI equal to or greater than 30) not for the overweight (BMI under 30). Off label use for the overweight is strongly recommended against because of serious risks. One of these two new drugs causes birth defects and women are warned not to get pregnant while on the drug.

The FDA’s requirement that the drug manufacturers conduct post-approval long-term trials to determine the safety of these medications seems like an effort to shut the barn door after the horse is already out. The disastrous past history of weight-loss drugs should be sufficient warning not to use any new weight-loss drug until there is a solid backlog of safety data.