Dangerous Diet Pills

“The second day of a diet is always easier than the first. By the second day you're off it.” - Jackie Gleason

I know a friend who thinks anything labeled “natural” or “herbal” must be safe. But there are “natural” mushrooms that will kill you. A drink of “herbal” hemlock killed the philosopher Socrates. Snake venom is “natural”. So is grapefruit that can cause dangerous side effects with some medicines. For some reason people forget these things when shopping for health and diet supplements.

Worse yet, the labels on health store products may be lying about ingredients. The FDA doesn't screen supplements for safety pre-market — let alone effectiveness. So you have only the “reputation” of the supplier from China or India to go by; the same suppliers that killed children and pets with dangerous additives to milk and pet food.

According to recent tests by the Food and Drug Administration, 69 weight-loss supplements manufactured in the U.S. and abroad contain undeclared pharmaceuticals. For example, nearly all the supplements that tested positive contain the appetite suppressant sibutramine (Meridia), which is illegal to distribute without a prescription. Meridia elevates blood pressure and heart rate and can cause stroke and heart attack. In some supplements, the FDA detected Meridia at four times the highest level that doctors are allowed to prescribe. Without knowing it you may be ingesting drugs at potentially deadly doses.

Many dieters are not aware of the side effects and fail to mention diet pills to their doctor when they experience heart palpitations. Other risks that the FDA discovered in diet pills are an appetite suppressant (rimonabant) that was never approved in the U.S. because of a potential link to depression and suicide, and a laxative (phenolphthalein) linked to cancer in 1999.

Bottom Line

"There is, sadly, a business model," says Marc Ullman, a food-and-drug lawyer in New York. "A company will make insane claims, put a pharmaceutical ingredient in their product, and shut down and start another business if they get caught. What's the worst thing that will happen? A warning letter from the FDA?"

UPDATE

Beware also of "natural" medicines to protect you from Swine Flu. The "cure" can be more dangerous than the disease or even make the flu worse.