Here are some of the things being said about diet drugs by doctors. Keep in mind that some of the doctors may have an interest in the clinical trials for various drugs.

"Prescription orlistat has been used successfully for years to help obese individuals lose weight and improve their health, so it's exciting to find that a lower dose of orlistat can help those who are overweight with their weight loss efforts. The number of overweight individuals in this country continues to increase each year, and the risk of these folks progressing to obesity -- and the resulting more serious medical problems -- is significant,"

Dr. James Anderson, Professor of Medicine and Clinical Nutrition at the University of Kentucky, lead researcher on the 16-week clinical trial of low-dose Xenical.

Dr. Jeanette Newton Keith, a gastroenterologist at the University of Chicago Hospitals

“What’s unfortunate is we desperately need weight loss drugs that work because the obesity epidemic is out of contro. If a drug really worked, you couldn’t keep it on the shelf. And since most prescription weight-loss drugs aren’t covered by insurance and aren’t truly effective, having them available over the counter doesn’t change anything."

Dr. Lee Kaplan, director of the Weight Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston

"This will be another tool available to people to help control their weight without having to directly ask the doctor for a prescription. This may put the control back to the patient."

Dr. Robert Kushner, medical director at the Wellness Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago

"If you look at the [weight-loss] products out there [being sold without prescription] right now, it's really a sad state of affairs. The way the rules are, there's very little oversight of these products. So given that, I think the entry of something like Xenical would clearly make it the first safe, proven and effective therapy."

Dr. Louis J. Aronne of Weill-Cornell Medical Center in New York