FDA warns dieters taking Hydroxycut

[BunsenBurner]

<p>Stop using Hydroxycut immediately:</p>

<p>[FDA</a> warns dieters: Stop Hydroxycut use immediately](<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090501/ap_on_he_me/us_med_diet_pill_recall]FDA”>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090501/ap_on_he_me/us_med_diet_pill_recall)</p>

<p>

Government health officials warned dieters and body builders Friday to immediately stop using Hydroxycut, a widely sold supplement linked to cases of serious liver damage and at least one death.</p>

<p>The Food and Drug Administration said the maker of the dietary supplement has agreed to recall 14 Hydroxycut products. Available in grocery stores and pharmacies, Hydroxycut is advertised as made from natural ingredients. At least 9 million packages were sold last year, the FDA said.</p>

<p>Dr. Linda Katz of the FDA’s food and nutrition division said the agency has received 23 reports of liver problems, including the death of a 19-year-old boy living in the Southwest. The teenager died in 2007, and the death was reported to the FDA this March.</p>

<p>Other patients experienced symptoms ranging from jaundice, or yellowing of the skin, to liver failure. One received a transplant and another was placed on a list to await a new liver.

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<p>Natural does not equal safe.</p>

[VeryHappy]

<p>It’s amazing that the FDA doesn’t have the authority to regulate these supplements until they start to harm people.</p>

[Nova10]

<p>Supplements are currently considered to be food products. They are considered to be safe until proven otherwise. If they were considered to be drugs, they are considered to be dangerous until proven otherwise. Also, they would have to prove that they work. The FDA wanted more authority to regulate supplements, but the supplement/vitamin industry used propaganda to get people to write to their congressmen/women to pass a law banning FDA interference. The law passed, and so, the FDA can’t do much.</p>