Petition to Ban Meridia in US Renewed

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Petition to Ban Meridia in US Renewed

 

 

From the Washington Post we learn, " In addition to the 49 deaths,

Public Citizen said 124 users have been hospitalized for serious

heart and cardiovascular problems since the drug was approved. "

 

" There is no justification in continuing to market a drug that

provides minimal weight reduction while increasing the likelihood of

injury and death, " the petition said. Many of the newly reported

deaths, the petition said, were of people younger than 50. "

 

I believe it was just last year that Italy banned the SSRI diet drug

Meridia. Now, we see a request for action to be taken here in the

US.

 

As I have said repeatedly about Meridia from its introduction, it is

nothing more than another Redux or Fen-Phen. About the only

difference is that it came with a few additional warnings - but

there is never enough warnings from these companies who will do

anything to make a buck! And as we have just witnessed with the

SSRIs' serious adverse effects upon children and teens they will

hide the adverse reaction reports for as long as they possibly can

because each day that the news does not reach the public they will

make millions more on their drugs.

 

So often as I go about daily activities outside the office I run

into someone who mentions one of their family members who is dying

from the effects of Fen-Phen or Redux. There is so little difference

in Meridia and these drugs. They work the same way and why the drug

was ever approved is beyond me! Anyone with even a small portion of

a brain could have figured out that the end result could be expected

to be the same.

 

Well, now the data is in to prove the similarity in the results.

Tragically the " data " in these cases are lives that have been cut

much too short leaving families of widows, widowers, and fatherless,

or motherless children, etc. in the wake.

 

Even though the drug companies were made to pay for much of the

heart and lung problems they caused with Fen-Phen and Redux, Wyeth

basically got away with causing all the brain damage they produced

with these two drugs. The brain damage is what the FDA was concerned

with in the beginning with the drugs, not heart or lung damage. The

FDA had told Wyeth they wanted additonal studies to show these drugs

were safe for the human brain. Those studies were not done nor

submitted before Dr. Hedi Connelly sounded the alarm on the heart

damage with the drugs. This information never seemed to reach the

victims.

 

Yet we knew about the heart damage for several months before the

drugs were pulled.

 

What came out within the last two weeks before Fen-Phen and Redux

were pulled were the National Institute of Health studies showing

the most horrific brain damage imaginable. Few in the media carried

the story - similar to what we are seeing now with the media

coverage on the SSRIs causing suicide in children and teens.

 

So Wyeth basically got away with the suicides and murder/suicides,

severe depression, memory loss, severe insomnia, manic reactions,

horrific nightmares, etc., etc., etc. caused by Fen-Phen and Redux.

 

(If you are not yet aware of all the serious damage done to the body

and the brain by all of these drugs that increase serotonin

throughout the body and the brain, read my book to get the full

picture: Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? - Our Serotonin Nightmare 800-

280-0730.)

 

Just how long will we allow these companies to continue to produce

such horrific damage and deaths with little or no accountability?

 

Dr. Ann Blake Tracy,

Executive Director, International Coalition For Drug Awareness

& author of Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? - Our Serotonin Nightmare

& tape on safe withdrawal " Help! I Can't Get Off My Antidepressant! "

 

Order Number: 800-280-0730

Website: www.drugawareness.org

 

<A

HREF= " http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22156-

2003Sep3.html " >http:/\

/www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22156-2003Sep3.html</A>

 

Petition To Ban Diet Drug Renewed

 

By Marc Kaufman

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, September 4, 2003; Page A08

 

The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen said yesterday the diet

drug Meridia has been associated with the deaths of 49 patients

since it came on the market five years ago, as the group renewed a

petition to the Food and Drug Administration to have the drug

banned.

 

Public Citizen, which initially petitioned the FDA regarding Meridia

more than a year ago, supplemented its effort with new information

from the FDA " adverse event " database through the end of March. In

addition to the 49 deaths, Public Citizen said 124 users have been

hospitalized for serious heart and cardiovascular problems since the

drug was approved.

 

" There is no justification in continuing to market a drug that

provides minimal weight reduction while increasing the likelihood of

injury and death, " the petition said. Many of the newly reported

deaths, the petition said, were of people younger than 50.

 

Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group,

said he had been told that the FDA is studying whether weight-loss

drugs such as Meridia, which contain amphetamine-like compounds,

cause more heart and cardiovascular disease than other weight-loss

medications.

 

FDA spokeswoman Laura Bradbard said that after the initial Public

Citizen petition, the agency began an additional review comparing

adverse event reports for Meridia and for Xenical, another major

weight-loss drug that doesn't have amphetamine-like components. She

said no date had been set for a decision on the petition.

 

Meridia's manufacturer, Abbott Laboratories, said the drug is safe

and has been used by more than 12 million people worldwide. Fewer

than 1 million Meridia prescriptions are written annually in the

United States, a company spokeswoman said.

 

" Sidney Wolfe's supplement to the March 19, 2002, Citizen's Petition

to the FDA reflects a pattern of irresponsible conduct by Public

Citizen, " the company said in a statement. " The safety of Meridia

has recently been comprehensively re-examined by regulatory

authorities, including the European Committee for Proprietary

Medicinal Products and Canadian Health authorities, and [they] have

concluded that the risk/benefit profile of Meridia remains

favorable. . . . Obese patients are at serious risk for premature

death and cardiovascular complications. "

 

Because overweight people have a greater risk of heart attack and

cardiovascular disease, the debate now is whether Meridia increases

that risk. In its safety information on Meridia, the company says

that the drug " substantially increases blood pressure in some

patients " but also that weight loss with Meridia can decrease

cardiovascular risks.

 

But Wolfe said, " It's clear this drug increases the risk of death. "

Meridia has avid supporters, who say it has helped them lose

significant weight. But in its petition, Public Citizen said the

average weight loss announced at the drug's approval was 61/2 pounds

after a year of taking 10 milligrams daily. The petition also said

cardiovascular birth defects were reported in four babies born to

women taking the drug.

 

Last year, the FDA reprimanded Abbott for not properly reporting the

deaths of patients taking Meridia. The agency said information about

seven deaths was not reported properly, one death was not reported

at all and reports on three other deaths were incomplete. Abbott

acknowledged the error but said it occurred before it owned the

drug, which was developed by Knoll Pharmaceuticals.

 

© 2003 The Washington Post Company

 

 

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