The F.D.A. has just endorsed the first new diet pill named "Qnexa" in thirteen years after an earlier vote in 2011 against the diet pill.  This is great news for severely obese and overweight people who have tried to lose weight the conventional way.  The F.D.A. had earlier been cautious regarding diet pills, because of safety issues regarding heart valve issues; but with two thirds  of the population either severely obese, or overweight this is a health hazard in the United States today.  This is both a societal problem along with a national one, and hopefully this drug will prove to be safe.    The federal government oversees our pharmaceutical drugs and so this is a federal issue along with doctors weighing in on the safety of this drug.  Former diet drugs such as Fen -Phen was proven to elevate heart attacks and heat value damag,e and so they were banned.  Quexa's active ingredients include phentermine, which was determined to be the unsafe ingredient in the drug Fen-Phen.  This is definitely in the jurisdiction of  the federal government and hopefully this is the answer to many overweight people to assist them in losing weight.  In the end the F.D.A. agreed that this epidemic of obesity in the United States warranted another look at this drug.

Link:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/business/fda-advisory-panel-backs-diet-drug.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=business