Whom To Trust After Naming 72 Weight Loss Products Containing Undeclared Compounds by FDA?
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The products are mostly marketed as dietary supplements and sold via the internet, plus retail stores and beauty parlours. The packaging and advertising uses phrases like "natural", or claim to contain only "herbal" ingredients, but the FDA found they contain the following undeclared pharmaceutical drugs:
* Fenproporex - a controlled substance not approved for sale in the US.
* Fluoxetine - an antidepressant (available only via prescription).
* Bumetanide and furosemide - potent diuretics (available only via prescription).
* Rimonabant - a drug not approved for sale in the US.
* Cetilistat - an experimental drug for treating obesity; not approved for sale in the US.
* Phenytoin - an anti-seizure medication drug (available only via prescription).
* Phenolphthalein - a solution used in chemical experiments; also suspected of causing cancer and not approved for sale in the US.
* Sibutramine - a controlled substance used in the FDA approved drug Meridia. This was found in dosages much higher than that contained in the approved drug.
These products can cause serious health problems including high blood pressure, seizures, tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), palpitations, heart attack, and stroke, alerted the FDA.
The higher levels of sibutramine can increase the incidence and severity of these health risks, said the agency, adding that the other controlled substance, fenproporex also found in some of the products, can cause arrhythmia and sudden death.
Consumers using any of the 72 products on the list should stop taking them and tell their doctor at once, said the FDA.
FDA laboratory tests have revealed the presence of sibutramine, fenproporex, fluoxetine, bumetanide, furosemide, phenytoin, rimonabant, cetilistat, and phenolphthalein in weight loss products being sold over-the-counter. The tainted products are listed below in alphabetical order along with the undeclared drug and/or chemical ingredient.
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