Corrigendum: Are Nonprescription Medications Needed for Weight Control?

Abstract

ObesityVolume 16, Issue 7 p. 1723-1723 Corrigendum: Are Nonprescription Medications Needed for Weight Control? First published: 06 September 2012 https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2008.241AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat George A. Bray Obesity 16, 566–571 (2008) Following the print publication of this article, the author noted that an acknowledgment of intellectual and financial support from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was inadvertently omitted (1). The basis for this omission is described below and the acknowledgment made. About 5 years ago, Roche asked me whether I wanted to consult on their proposal to switch orlistat from a prescription to an over-the-counter (OTC) product. Following the withdrawal of phenylpropanolamine by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there were no OTC compounds for weight loss available to the public, only “herbal medications” which had little or no testing. Being a firm believer in availability of safe medications for use by the public, I accepted the offer and duly met with the Company and the FDA. The FDA laid out the plan of what was needed for a prescription to OTC switch. Roche then either sold or licensed orlistat to GSK to market as the OTC pill now called “Alli.” GSK subsequently asked me whether I was interested in writing a paper about the place of OTC medications in the treatment of obesity. This seemed like a good idea, and we originally planned to do it jointly with one or more people from GSK as co-authors on the paper. Their focus was on the potential value of orlistat (Alli) to reduce the public health burden of obesity. Believing, as Oliver (2) said in his 2006 book, that “The greatest share of the market for diet products is not made up of people who are trying to lose 200 lb, but by people who are trying to lose only 20 (p. 52)” my concern was largely with the balance between the risks and benefits that OTC products for weight loss bring to improving the quality of life, or cosmetic value that might result from use of this product, and not the public health message that it could improve “risk factors” for disease. With this divergence of opinion, the potential GSK co-authors decided that they should not be authors, so it became a single-authored paper. In the process of this change, I forgot to publish an acknowledgment to their help in writing the paper or for a travel grant they provided for me to attend the 10th International Congress on Obesity in Sydney, Australia. My discussions with them were beneficial, particularly their pointing out the existence of the National Business Journal which reviewed the use of products for weight loss and which was cited in the paper. I thus acknowledge both the intellectual contributions to this paper and the financial support for travel to the International Congress on Obesity. REFERENCES 1 Bray GA. Are non-prescription medications needed for weight control? Obesity 2008; 16: 566– 571. 2 Oliver JE. Fat Politics. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2006. Volume16, Issue7July 2008Pages 1723-1723 ReferencesRelatedInformation