Xenical and Alli can cause liver damage

American authorities suspect that a medication Xenical (orlistat) prescribed for the treatment of obesity can damage liver cells.

Xenical prescribed for the treatment of obesity

Recently Orlistat the commercial name of prescription drug Xenical has been approved for over-the-counter sales. Orlistat prevents the activity of the enzymes which break down lipids (fats) in the gastrointestinal tract. Unsplit lipids are not absorbed into the blood circulation and therefore are eliminated out of the organism naturally (with faeces). It is believed that Xenical does not cause any serious side effects because it acts only in the intestine and is not absorbed into the blood circulation.

Recently US Food and Drug Administration received more than 30 complaints to the fact that orlistat causes serious liver damage. In some cases there were reported cases of hepatic failure, in other jaundice and pain in the liver area were common after application of Orlistat products like Xenical or Alli. However, the official manufacturer of Alli pharmaceutical corporation GlaxoSmithKline and the manufacturer of Xenical - La Roche refuse to admit these complaints.

According to clinical trials the effectiveness and safety profile of Orlistat has been properly studied. According to the drug leaflet Based on information submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the following side effects were commonly reported in clinical studies:

• Abdominal pain (stomach pain) -- in up to 20.1 percent of people
• Fecal urgency (an urgent but controlled need to have a bowel movement) -- up to 18.8 percent
• Gas -- up to 18.6 percent
• Oily spotting (uncontrolled anal oil seepage) -- up to 17.7 percent
• Gas with a small amount of oil or stool -- up to 17.2 percent
• Fatty or oily stool -- up to 17.2 percent
• Diarrhea -- up to 11.9 percent
• Oily evacuation (bowel movements of just oil, without stool) -- up to 11.6 percent
• Sinus infection -- up to 10.6 percent
• Soft stool -- up to 10.1 percent.

Other common side effects of Alli (occurring in 3 to 10 percent of people) included:

• Increased frequency of bowel movements
• Uncontrolled, spontaneous bowel movements (known as fecal incontinence)
• Back pain.

Many of these problems that affect the digestive tract can be avoided or reduced by decreasing the amount of fat in your diet. Because Alli decreases the absorption of fat, more fat stays in the digestive tract, causing many of the bothersome (and sometimes embarrassing) side effects. You are more likely to experience these side effects if you eat too much fat. As you continue to take the medication, you will learn how different foods and different amounts of fat will affect you. If you have consumed a meal that is high in fat and have taken Alli, you may want to prepare for possible negative effects. Currently there are known nearly 30 cases of severe liver damage caused by Orlistat.

FDA is still checking whether these effects were caused by Orlistat. No one additional cautions were added to official drug's leaflet.