Another Proposed Diet Drug Tries for U.S. Approval

A third diet drug will try to do what two others failed at: getting approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

Contrave, made by Orexigen Therapeutics, will be marketed as an obesity drug if it gets the green light from the federal government.

But the chances are slim after two competitor diet medications, lorcaserin and Qnexa, were shot down over concerns about cancer and heart disease risks.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't get approved. I would be more surprised if it does," clinical dietician Lisa Cimperman of University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland told AOL Health.

The drugs that didn't win over the FDA couldn't convince the agency the nominal weight loss they helped bring about compensated for serious health implications.

Lorcaserin, made by Arena Pharmaceuticals and its partner Eisai Co., was rejected in late October over worries that it could cause cancer. Tumors were detected during lab experiments the company did on animals.

Only days later, Qnexa, manufactured by Vivus Inc., was also turned down. The FDA said it needed more data on potential heart risks.