Diet Drug Meridia From Abbott Labs Pulled–Patients Advised by FDA to Stop Taking Product And Slimming Beauty Over The Counter Product Advisory–Cardiovascular Disease Risks

This is a bit of a double whammy as the over the counter product was found to contain sibutramine, which is not a natural herbal product according to the FDA so doctors are asked to no longer prescribe Meridia and find another weight loss drug instead. Sibutramine is also the active ingredient in Meridia.

With the Slimming Beauty over the counter products, the FDA found that sibutramine was not listed in the contents, but lab reports did show the drug in the supplement. This brings me back once again to my favorite topic of using a cell phone to find those recalls and the ability to identify any products that have new safety issues from the FDA. The product Slimming Beauty is sold over the the internet and even if one had purchased online, we would be able to scan the bar code and find out the latest warnings on not to use due to the cardiovascular associated risks. There are several natural herb companies that sell bitter orange and the one with the undisclosed ingredients is from Slimming Beauty.

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If you think this would be valuable, give me a vote on the poll as this stands to empower the consumer by all means and get the information out there timely. BD

Abbott Laboratories has withdrawn its popular weight-loss drug Meridia because it increases the risk for heart attacks and strokes, the Food and Drug Administration announced Friday.

"Meridia's continued availability is not justified when you compare the very modest weight loss that people achieve on this drug to their risk of heart attack or stroke," said a statement from John Jenkins, director of the FDA's Office of New Drugs in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Physicians are advised to stop prescribing Meridia to their patients, and patients should stop taking this medication. Patients should talk to their health care provider about alternative weight loss and weight-loss maintenance programs."

Meridia, also known as sibutramine, was approved by the FDA in November 1997 for weight loss and maintenance of weight loss in obese people, as well as in certain overweight people with other risks for heart disease. The approval was based on studies that showed that the drug could help people lose at least five percent of their body weight compared with people who took a placebo and relied on diet and exercise alone, the FDA said.