Well, one possible confounding factor here is that they were comparing it against buproprion-naltrexone. Buproprion is also known as Wellbutrin and is prescribe

Well, one possible confounding factor here is that they were comparing it against buproprion-naltrexone. Buproprion is also known as Wellbutrin and is prescribed for, among other things, smoking cessation and ahedonia. Naltrexone is interestingly an opioid antagonist that is known to decrease alcohol desire and is often prescribed off label for that use case. So there may be some other factors at play here in this specific study. Side note I had never even heard of this combination of buproprion-naltrexone being prescribed for weight loss. I am not sure how common it is