Weight-loss pill to be freely available

A PHARMACEUTICAL company hopes to begin selling this year a fat-blocking pill directly to millions of overweight Americans who now only have access to a prescription version.

The Food and Drug Administration could approve over-the-counter sales of orlistat in the next few months, said George Quesnelle, president of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare North America. If orlistat wins a nonprescription OK, it would be the first such weight-loss pill to get FDA sanction.

An FDA advisory panel voted 11-3 on Monday to recommend the regulatory agency approve the nonprescription form of orlistat, which Glaxo would market as Alli.