This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Michael Steelman, MD
American Society of Bariatric Physicians Englewood, Colo

JAMA. 1997;277(15):1201-1202.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Although the article¹ on pharmacotherapy for obesity was an excellent review, 2 statements in that article deserve additional comment.

First, the authors indicate, "The use of these medications was widespread and often indiscriminate." This statement is typical of disparaging comments offered in review articles on obesity treatment. Without statistical or numerical validation, such pronouncements are difficult to interpret. What, specifically, do the terms "widespread" and "indiscriminate" mean?

The authors use as a reference for this statement an article² that stated, "Amphetamine, however, suffers from the serious disadvantage of having a substantial abuse potential" (emphasis added). There is a considerable difference between the phrases "substantial abuse potential" and "widespread and indiscriminate use." As opposed to class II amphetamines, are there data to indicate that abuse of the class III and IV anorexigenics is or has been widespread or indiscriminate?

Second, the authors state, "Until more data are available, pharmacotherapy cannot . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?