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China bans diet drug, says it can harm heart
2009-01-09
BEIJING - China's top food and drug regulator has ordered a halt to the sale and production of the weight-loss drug fenfluramine hydrochloride, citing its harmful side effects. Fenfluramine hydrochloride is one of the main ingredients in the obesity drug fen-phen, which was banned in the United States in 1997 after being linked to heart disease and lung problems. The State Food and Drug Administration posted the recall announcement on its Web site Friday, saying research showed the diet drug can cause heart disease, pulmonary hypertension and a host of other problems. A comprehensive evaluation of the drug by the agency showed "this kind of drug's risks outweigh the benefits." "It is decided that the production, sale and use of the substance will be stopped," the agency said. It ordered drugs already on the market to be pulled off retailers' shelves, destroyed and dealt with by local authorities. The drug, which suppresses appetite by altering the levels of serotonin in the brain, is marketed over the counter as Pondimin, Obedrex or Pomleral.
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