The article linked below promotes anti-obesity drug prescribing. Like many physicians, I’m not a big fan of these drugs. The article mentions some reasons why.
Phentermine has been around for years, but is FDA-approved for only short-term treatment, like three months.
Some of the newer drugs are approved for longer term: lorcaserin (Belviq) and the combination drugs topiramate+phentermine (Qsymia) and naltrexone+bupropion (Contrave).
Whether you like these drugs or not, you may find the article interesting:
“About two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight, and 46% fit the indications for antiobesity pharmacotherapy (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2 or ≥27 kg/m2 with hypertension, type 2 diabetes, or dyslipidemia) as an adjunct to diet and exercise, but only 2% of those receive treatment. This is in sharp contrast to the 8.4% of adults in the U.S. diagnosed with diabetes, of whom 86% receive antidiabetes pharmacotherapy, the investigators noted.”
Advanced Mediterranean Diet 