A big thanks to Peter for carrying the load the past few days while I traveled home to New Brunswick for the Holidays (I arrived safely this morning). We will do our best to continue posting throughout the Holiday season, although we may post slightly less often than usual as we are both traveling to visit family over the next week or so.
I came across this very interesting video this afternoon on the CNN website. According to the report, several over the counter weight loss medications being sold in the United States contain prescription medications as active ingredients, sometimes in very high doses (both of which are big no-no's). Further, some of these diet pills contain medications and chemicals which have not even been approved by the FDA for sale within the USA. For example, they report that Rimonabant, which was pulled from trials earlier this year due to concerns that it could lead to depression and suicidal ideation (and has not been approved by the FDA), is nonetheless listed as an active ingredient in one of these over the counter diet pills. Possible carcinogens and other prescription medications are also listed as active ingredients in other diet pills. According to Dr Janet Woodcock of the FDA "Consumers have no way of knowing that these products contain powerful drugs that could cause serious health consequences".
Frequent readers of the blog will know that Peter and I are not fans of over the counter diet pills in general. Unfortunately this report suggests that diet pills aren't just bad because they are often ineffective as we have argued in the past, but because they can also be outright dangerous.
TJS
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I came across this very interesting video this afternoon on the CNN website. According to the report, several over the counter weight loss medications being sold in the United States contain prescription medications as active ingredients, sometimes in very high doses (both of which are big no-no's). Further, some of these diet pills contain medications and chemicals which have not even been approved by the FDA for sale within the USA. For example, they report that Rimonabant, which was pulled from trials earlier this year due to concerns that it could lead to depression and suicidal ideation (and has not been approved by the FDA), is nonetheless listed as an active ingredient in one of these over the counter diet pills. Possible carcinogens and other prescription medications are also listed as active ingredients in other diet pills. According to Dr Janet Woodcock of the FDA "Consumers have no way of knowing that these products contain powerful drugs that could cause serious health consequences".
Frequent readers of the blog will know that Peter and I are not fans of over the counter diet pills in general. Unfortunately this report suggests that diet pills aren't just bad because they are often ineffective as we have argued in the past, but because they can also be outright dangerous.
TJS
Enjoyed this story? Share it with your friends by clicking the buttons below!
To get future posts delivered directly to your email inbox or to your RSS reader, be sure to subscribe to Obesity Panacea.
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