1st FDA-approved weight-loss drug 'not a miracle cure for obesity, ' says expert

A new long-term weight-loss medication called Beliviq, which had been approved by FDA, will be available to patients by next week.

The drug, which received FDA approval almost a year ago, makes users feel that they are full by working on serotonin transmitters in the brain, which causes this reaction.

CBS News medical contributor Dr. Holly Phillips said on 'CBS This Morning: Saturday' that when a person feels full, they eat less, and then they see the weight loss.

She said that Beliviq was considered to be effective, and people taking it lost around 3.7 percent of their body weight over the year, asserting that in studies the drug worked better in non-diabetics than people who already were diagnosed with that disease.

She said that the drug is not a miracle cure for obesity, but people have to look at it from a health perspective, where if an obese person loses 5 percent of their body weight it can truly benefit you.