The Consumers’ Association of Ireland

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1966 – 2009.

The Consumers' Association of Ireland is a wholly independent, non-profit, non-government organisation registered with charitable status. CHY No. 8559.

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PRESS RELEASE

EMBARGO TO MONDAY NOVEMBER 9^th at 12.00pm

Weight-loss Medicine alli Miss-sold in Pharmacies

An investigation by the Consumer’s Association of Ireland (CAI) has found that many pharmacies are breaching the terms of sale of Ireland’s first over-the-counter weight-loss medicine alli. Eight out of twenty pharmacies which were visited at random were willing to sell alli despite the CAI’s researcher having a BMI of 19.1 - nine points under the manufacturer’s guideline BMI of 28!

The full report is published in /Consumer Choice, /the CAI’s monthly independent consumer affairs magazine.

The CAI’s Food and Health Researcher, Sinead Mc Mahon, said; “We were pleased to see that a number of pharmacists refused point-blank to sell alli and warned of the potential dangers. However, the fact remains that in 8 out of the 20 pharmacies the regulations for the sale of alli were not adhered to. If users of alli are not monitored it makes it too easy to obtain and this opens up the potential for abuse, particularly in vulnerable groups such as teenagers and people with eating disorders. The CAI believes that neither alli nor any other weight-loss pills should be available for sale without prescription. Direct supervision by a healthcare professional would mean that patients’ progress is monitored and the pills are not taken indefinitely.”

A license was granted to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) by the European Commission earlier this year allowing the manufacturer to market alli in the EU. When alli was launched in Ireland, GSK said that they take the need to market alli responsibly very seriously, and that they were training pharmacists to help them provide advice on weight loss to ensure they recommend alli to suitable patients only. GSK stated that pharmacists would check that anyone who wishes to purchase alli is over 18 years of age and has a BMI of 28 or over and that customers would be asked further questions to determine their suitability to use the product.

Dermott Jewell, the Chief Executive of the CAI, stated that “We will be referring our survey results to the Minister and the Department of Health and requesting an immediate unannounced audit of pharmacies to ascertain their level of compliance. We will be further requesting that the Department investigate the causes of our proven instances of non-compliance and advise us of their intended measures for restoring consumer confidence”.

Important Notes:

The CAI’s researcher visited pharmacies in Dublin 1, 2, 6, 8 and 14, Drogheda, Naas, Portlaoise, and Limerick.

Alli is the reduced-strength 60mg version of orlistat 120mg, a prescription drug developed to treat obesity. The cost ranges between €55 and €60 for a one month supply of 84 tablets but alli can also be bought in a smaller dose. It works by stopping some of the fat you eat being absorbed into the body. If alli is not used correctly there can be unpleasant side-effects. It is the responsibility of pharmacists licensed to sell the product to check if their customers fit the criteria ie the customer is over 18 and has a BMI of 28 or over.

The advised dose of alli is one 60 mg capsule three times a day, taken with meals that have the recommended amount of fat. According to the website www.alli.ie which was set up by GSK for its Irish customers, “When taken correctly and combined with a reduced calorie, lower-fat diet alli can help boost your weight loss by 50%. So for every 2lbs you lose through your own hard work, alli will help you to lose an additional 1lb.” The manufacturers also emphasise that individual results will vary from person to person. Alli became available in participating pharmacies in Ireland from April 2009.

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Enquiries:

The November issue of /Consumer Choice/ is available now from the Consumers’ Association of Ireland. To request copies of articles or for further information, please contact CAI on (01) 497 8600 or cai@consumerassociation.ie <mailto:cai@consumerassociation.ie>

Note to Editor:

Consumer Choice is published by the Consumers’ Association of Ireland, Consumer Choice magazine’s team of dedicated researchers use their expertise to provide subscribers with impartial reporting on household consumer goods, personal finance, automotive, health, safety and the environment as well as giving useful contacts and websites for each topic they report on.

Consumer Choice does not carry any advertising, for that reason they can offer readers an unbiased view of all the products and services they review.

Consumer Choice is published monthly by the Consumers’ Association of Ireland (CAI) limited, a wholly independent, non-government, non-profit making body.

Consumer Choice is available through a subscription of €24 per quarter direct from the Consumers’ Association of Ireland, - contact subscriptions at cai@consumerassociation.ie; www.thecai.ie or call Judy Dunne on 01-497 8811.

Reports in Consumer Choice are based on market research, laboratory tests or user surveys, all of which are independently and scientifically conducted. The non-test reports are produced in main by the editorial staff. Some material is occasionally drawn from other foreign independent consumer magazines.

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