Prescription fat blockers have been the subject of many issues in the healthcare industry. One of the questions surrounding prescription fat blockers is its effectiveness especially when they are promoted without equal focus on the change of lifestyle that these pills and tablets entail to be effective.

Another subject of debate is the side effects caused by intake of prescription fat blockers. Though there are no reports of actual death resulting from prescription fat blocker intake, a number of emotional and physiological disruptions are common complaints.

These include irregularly frequent bowel movements, diarrhea, malaise and weakness, which are believed to be results of “good” fats like omega fatty acids as well as essential vitamins that are blocked along with unwanted fats in the body.

In 2007, the US Food and Drug administration approved the over-the-counter sale of one of the most popular prescription fat blockers in the market, orlistat (marketed under the name Xenical). The OTC version are now sold under the brand name Alli, and contains half the dose of prescription Xenical. Alli can be sold to people 18 years and older. The pills will work in combination with a low-fat diet, reduced calorie intake and exercise.

The healthcare industry is still divided on the issue of allowing more prescription fat blockers to be available as over-the-counter drugs. Fitness trainers are especially wary of the lack of accompanying lifestyle education in the commercial availability of these products while doctors warn that fat blockers work on a case-to-case basis, hence the need for prescription-supervised intake.