You’ve read over the side effects, and you are prepared. Still there is that voice inside of your head saying “What about Fen-Phen?” Could it happen to you? Could you be one of the statistics used to prove the unsafe nature of the weight loss drug you were prescribed? First, consider what drugs are actually legal and approved by the FDA. These include Xenical and Meridia -- both approved for long term use -- and diethylpropion, phendimetrazine, and phentermine for short term use. This list is posted on the Weight-control Information Network, a service of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Institute of Health. Now take a look at how many court cases have actually taken place.

Fen-Phen

Fen-Phen has been designed as a drug created from the merging of fenfluramine or dexfenfluramine and phentermine. These medications have been prescribed in the past as appetite suppressants for “short-term management of obesity,” explains the CDER. Phentermine was approved in 1959 and fenfluramine in 1973.

Since then, the FDA, using Mayo findings reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, reported cases of heart valve disease in patients taking fenfluramine or dexfenfluramine. According to CDER, the drug may have changed the heart valves in patients who have taken the drugs causing “leakiness and backflow of blood,” which can cause “problems in heart function.”

The manufacturers of fen-phen have since withdrawn the product from the market and recommended users to stop taking the drug.

Ephedra Containing Weight Loss Drugs

Perhaps the most recent substance found in weight loss drugs to cause health problems is ephedra. You’ve heard this on the radio and seen it on the news, but you don’t really know what ephedra is or where it is found. If you type in “define ephedra” in your Google Search, this is the definition you get: jointed and nearly leafless desert shrub having reduced scale like leaves and reddish fleshy seeds. Ephedra does come from plants, and is also known as Ma huang, the main active ingredient of which is Ephedrine. According to the FDA, this is what has been synthesized and marketed as a weight loss drug. A few products that contain ephedra include Metabolife, Metabolift, and Metab-O-Lite.

The FDA found that Ephedra significantly raises blood pressure and stresses the circulatory system and has prohibited the sale of ephedra-containing products.

So What?

You may be thinking “So what?” The drugs that you are considering taking do not contain the substances in Fen-Phen or ephedra. But, the thing to consider is that these substances were FDA approved before they were found to cause such significant health problems, and were then taken of the market. Who knows what the FDA might find next?