Diseases & Conditions Blog

FDA to Increase Scrutiny of Dietary Supplements - Saturday, January 15, 2011

Last month, the FDA sent a warning letter to manufacturers and marketers of diatary supplements that it will be targeting the hundreds of products that contain drugs or chemicals that function like drugs.

Unlike prescription drugs, which must undergo thorough safety and effectiveness testing before receiving FDA approval, dietary supplements are not strictly regulated.

Most of the dietary supplements the FDA is going after are for weight loss, bodybuilding, and “sexual enhancement.” Some contain compounds that are regulated as pharmaceuticals, and others contain similar substances with unknown side effects.

Supplements Contain Dangerous and Deadly Drugs

For example, most of the targeted sexual enhancement supplements contain sildenafil, which is the active ingredient in Viagra and is known to cause headaches, dyspepsia, nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, hypotension, heart attack, heart arrhythmias, and stroke.

The weight loss supplements frequently contain the prescription drug sibutramine (Meridia), which was recently recalled due to high risk of heart attack and increased blood pressure.

The FDA is also targeting bodybuilding supplements that contain anabolic steroids, many of which are analogues of regulated substances and have unknown side effects.

Other pharmaceutical-laced dietary supplements have been found to cause stroke, liver damage, renal failure, pulmonary blood clots, and death.

If you or a family member has had a heart attack or other adverse event after taking a dietary supplement, please contact us to locate a product liability attorney in your area.