HEALTH NEWS & INFORMATION

Women more stressed by work intrusions

By Rob Stein - Washington Post - March 9, 2011

The claim: Weight loss dietary supplements are a "magic diet pill" that can "melt your fat away!" without diet and exercise.

The reality: If they actually worked, we'd all be popping these like mad. Meanwhile, there's a risk; even if dietary supplements do work, dozens of products labeled this way actually contain hidden prescription drugs or compounds that have not been adequately studied in humans, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which on Tuesday issued a consumer advisory on fraudulent weight loss products.

Of concern are weight-loss products tainted with the prescription drug ingredient sibutramine. This ingredient was in an FDA-approved drug called Meridia, which was removed from the market in October 2010 because it caused heart problems and strokes, the FDA said.

Other prescription drug ingredients that have been removed from the market or never approved at all have also been found in the weight loss supplements.

“We’ve found other weight-loss products marketed as supplements that contain dangerous concoctions of hidden ingredients including seizure medications, blood pressure medications, and other drugs not approved in the U.S.,” said Michael Levy, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s FDA's Division of New Drugs and Labeling Compliance.

Many of these tainted products are imported and sold through the Internet, but some can also be found on store shelves.

Here are some potential warning signs of tainted products:

• Promises of quick action, such as “lose 10 pounds in one week”
• Use of the words “guaranteed” or “scientific breakthrough”
• Labeled or marketed in a foreign language
• Marketed through mass e-mails
• Marketed as an herbal alternative to an FDA-approved drug or as having effects similar to prescription drugs


Most people don't realize that dietary supplements, in general, are not FDA-approved. Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, dietary supplement firms do not need FDA approval prior to marketing their products. It is the company’s responsibility to make sure its products are safe and that any claims are true.

Just because you see a supplement product on a store shelf does NOT mean it is safe or effective, the FDA said. It's also a lot easier to get a product on the market, than it is to remove it.