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(KSL News) -- A private group asked health officials today to ban the prescription version of the fat-blocking drug Orlistat.
A petition filed by Public Citizen with the Food and Drug Administration cites a link to what some scientists believe are precancerous lesions in the large intestine.
The petition came just days after the regulatory agency gave conditional approval to GlaxoSmithKline to sell a nonprescription version of the drug.
However, the petition asks only to have the prescription version of Orlistat, sold by Roche since 1999 under the brand name Xenical, removed from the market.