Tuesday, January 17, 2006

FDA Warning Re: Dietary Supplements

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned consumers to avoid to products that marketed as dietary supplements. Emagrece Sim Dietary Supplement, also known as the Brazilian Diet Pill and Herbathin Dietary Supplement may contain several active ingredients, including controlled substances, found in prescription drugs that could lead to serious side effects or injury.

The supplements are made in Brazil by Fitoterapicos (also spelled Fytoterapicos) and Phytotherm Sim. The information indicates that may contain chlordiazepoxide HCl (the active ingredient in Librium) and fluoxetine HCl (the active ingredient in Prozac). Chlordiazepoxide HCl (Librium) is used to relieve anxiety and to control the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. It may be habit forming, and can cause drowsiness and dizziness and impair the ability to drive. Fluoxetine HCl (Prozac) is an anti-depressant medication used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and bulimia.

For more information, go here (most of which was used in this post).