This week, France's Agency for the Sanitary Safety of Health Products (AFSSAPS) removed the weight-loss drug sibutramine from its list of approved medications. Sibutramine has been sold in France under the name Sibutral since 2001. The move comes in advance of an expected Europe-wide ban by the European Union’s Health Commission. Great Britain has already banned the use of sibutramine.

Long-term studies by the AFSSAPS indicate that sibutramine may cause negative cardiovascular effects in almost half of patients. Other side effects linked to the drug include increased blood pressure, stomach and muscle pain, nausea, and mood changes including depression. Sibutramine also interacts unfavorably with a variety of other medications, making it difficult to prescribe safely.

European officials also report cases of sibutramine poisoning, linked to illegal imports of dietary supplements from China and Africa.

Britain's European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended the suspension of sibutramine use and all drugs containing sibutramine, such as Reductil, Reduxade and Zelium. The EMA states that the drug presents risks which outweigh its benefits and that the drug has minimal weight-loss effect in most patients, mainly because patients immediately gain back any weight lost as soon as they discontinue the drug.

Sibutramine, which is manufactured by American pharmaceutical company Abbott, is also controversial in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently acknowledged that sibutramine may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients with a history of cardiovascular problems.

(Source: www.fleshandstone.net)

Labels: Sibutral, sibutramine, weight loss drugs