London -- Britain's drug regulator said the anti-obestity drug rimonabant, marketed as Acomplia, has been linked to the deaths of five patients, including one suicide.
The drug, made by Sanofi-Aventis, is approved for sale in Britain and elsewhere in the European Union but was rejected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel last year because of concerns the drug increases the risk of depression and suicidal thoughts, The Wall Street Journal said Wednesday.
A Sanofi-Aventis spokesman said two of the deaths were the result of heart attacks, one person died of infectious disease and one died a "sudden death," the newspaper said.
Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said psychiatric adverse drug reactions, also known as ADRs, were the main safety issue identified at the time of rimonabant's approval in 2006. Prescribers were warned that treatment with rimonabant should be stopped if a patient develops depression, the agency said in a Web site newsletter.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International.
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