Abbott withdraws diet pill in US, Canada

[Celebration]

http://www.physorg.com/news205763696.html

Abbott Laboratories said Friday it will withdraw its diet pill Meridia in the U.S. and Canada, almost a year after studies showed the drug increases the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients with a history of heart disease.

Food and Drug Administration scientists said they requested the withdrawal because the drug's risks were not justified compared with "the very modest weight loss that people achieve on this drug."

"Physicians are advised to stop prescribing Meridia to their patients and patients
should stop taking this medication," Dr. John Jenkins, the FDA's director for new drugs, said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, Health Canada, the nation's health department, announced that Abbott would voluntarily pull the drug from the market there. Meridia has been available in both countries for more than a decade.

European regulators pulled the product off the market in January after a study showed that patients who had heart disease had an 11 percent chance of heart attacks or stroke while taking the drug compared with a 10 percent risk for those not taking it.

[madmax]

1. Europe has banned a drug

can't think of the name at this moment - I'm on drugs for RA so, duh. But, the US has only limited it.

Screw the American lab rat. :mad:

btw: the drugs I used for RA - Embril, etc. Are linked to certain types of cancer. NOW, they tell me. Big Pharma and FDA pushed it through the approval process and now we see...

Might be Accutane...not sure. As my son would say, 'go back to sleep, Ma.'