[Is orlistat medically essential for the treatment of obesity?]

Obesity is a major health problem in western societies. The mainstay of therapy is behavioral modification. By inhibiting intestinal lipases orlistat modifies food composition. Thus, orlistat is a dietetic compound. Therefore, orlistat does not represent a medically necessary treatment option in terms of the conditions of private health insurances. However, adjunctive treatment with orlistat may make sense in single high risk patients.