uce weight, up to 8%, without changing your diet. This drug is called Famoxin. They have just finished research with lab mice. In the study, the lab mice on Famoxin lost about 8% of their body weight within two weeks. Biotechnology analysts say that 8% is the best you could expect from it, if it even works at all in humans. They say that they will know if it works on humans by the beginning of 2002. Even if it does work on humans and everything goes according to how it is planned, it will probably only be available to “at risk” patients. These are people who are obese and have tried other means of weight loss and just cannot do it, and are at risk of developing diabetes or cardiovascular illnesses. This means, not just anyone who thinks they are fat can take it. The drug still has many stages of research and regulations to pass, where most drugs fail, before it hits the market. Shareholders are already jumping the gun and are ready to support the next few stages of development. This is a big turnaround for Genset, who in the last few years has experienced great losses.I think this is definitely a good drug to be developed. However, it could easily be miss-used by many teenage girls. For people who are at risk of developing diabetes or cardiovascular illnesses, this drug could possibly save their lives. Where at the same time, teenage girls who look in the mirror and see a fat person could potentially endanger their lives. If the drug actually proves that it does cause weight loss without change in diet, and passes the rigorous tests and regulations set by the government, I will be surprised. Many drugs have come to the public attention, claiming that they do some miraculous task, but after extensive research, they reveal that they actually don’t do a thing that was earlier claimed, and could actually do more harm than good. If it does become available to the public, I have faith that strict government...
