Health Alert(6): More Weight-Loss Pills Banned

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting consumers not to purchase or consume more than 25 different products marketed for weight loss because they contain undeclared, active pharmaceutical ingredients that may put consumers’ health at risk.

Impressive weight-loss ads such as this detract the consumer from the dangers of using some slimming drugs

Included among the list are quite well-known ’slimming pills’ and ’slimming drinks’ marketed on the Internet as ‘dietary supplements’ or containing ‘natural’ or ‘herbal’  supplements. FDA said some of these products also contained sibutramine (a controlled substance),  phenytoin (an anti-seizure medication), phenolphthalein (a solution used in chemical experiments and a suspected cancer causing agent) and rimonabant (a drug not approved for marketing in the United States).

The last-mentioned drug was highlighted in my last post on health alert here. Marketed in many countries in the Far East as Accomplia, it was withdrawn by the European Union in October 2008 because of the high incidence of depression and suicides amongst users.

For a full list of the drugs affected by the ban, go to the FDA News.

Tags: Accomplia, doctor2008, family, FDA, health, news, ridzwan bakar, rimonabant, sibutramine, weight loss drugs