GPs do not approve of them, but private clinics have moved into this lucrative market, to the dismay of many in the medical profession. Susan Donald, of BBC Television's Frontline Scotland, investigates. For people desperate to lose weight there's always one major problem - how to eat less.
Diet pills seem the easy solution, a quick fix, pop a pill and keep the hunger pangs at bay.
But you are unlikely to be prescribed them by your family doctor. Diet pills have fallen out of favour with the Health Service which now believes a permanent change in lifestyle is vital for effective weight loss. However, private slimming clinics are happy to prescribe the pills - at a price. Teresa Lambie is a typical patient. She started going to see a private doctor three years ago after the birth of her first child.