Reports about the potentially catastrophic side effects of diet drugs have alarmed Syracuse residents along with people elsewhere. Now Reuters, http://www.reuters.com, has released an article by Susan Heavy, "U.S. pulls Abbott's Meridia diet drug off market".
After regulators said it was too dangerous Abbott Laboratories' has pulled its controversial diet drug, Meridia, off the U.S. market. Food and Drug Administration officials said on Friday available data highlighting the Meridia's heart risks raised serious questions about its use even though Abbott argued that its drug was safe. John Jenkins, director of FDA's Office of New Drugs, said in a statement "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."
Abbott has said patients should stop using Meridia, also known as sibutramine, and ask their doctor about other medications. Abbott also said it was discussing the fate of Meridia in other countries and expects those talks to end in the coming days. European sales were stopped in January.
Consumer groups who have been fighting for Meridia's removal for years welcomed the FDA's decision even as they said it took took long and put patients at risk. Sidney Wolfe, director for Public Citizen's Health Research Group, has commented the drug's ban comes "dangerously too late for all of the victims of its unacceptable risks." The FDA has estimated about 100,000 people in the United States use Meridia. However, Wolfe said more than 160,000 prescriptions for the have been filled since January and over 3 million prescriptions have been filled since 2002.
This is a good move by the FDA but raises serious questions about why consumer groups have not been as successful having the FDA take the devastatingly dangerous psychiatric drugs such as lithium, neuroleptics, and antidepressants off of the market. Consumer groups are justifiably concerned that the psychiatric drugs are as dangerous if not more dangerous than diet drugs such as Meridia. Are dirty politics and pay-offs involved in not going after the psychiatric drugs too which have been a financial boom for the pharmaeceutical firms and psychiatrists while everyone whom they are prescribed for suffers?
Meanwhile Syracuse residents and people elsewhere should immediately stop taking Meridia if it has been prescribed for them. Safe and effective natural approaches to weight loss are more desirable.
Photographer: Paul
Mandel News Service: http://www.mandelnews.com
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