On May one, 2009, the FDA issued a recall of fourteen differing kinds of Hydroxycut products manufactured by Iovate Medical Sciences. All these products were promoted as aids for weight reduction, fat burners, energy enhancers, and low cost diet products in grocery stores, drug stores, and cut price stores all over the U. S. and in 70 other countries. This Hydroxycut recall was based on reports turned into the FDA concerning heavy liver problems as well as a death that have been linked to the drugs.

Some internet sites will tell you that the Hydroxycut recall was fully voluntary on the part of Iovate ; however, keep in mind the the FDA played an important role in making it occur. Many reports of problems associated with diet drugs are never passed along to the FDA, as the agency isn’t set up to watch products like these which technically aren’t medications. However, when enough reports of health problems filter into the organization, they do take notice and proceed to deal with it. In fact, public health is their first concern.

Reports of 23 cases of serious liver damage and one death, all related to Hydroxycut, were sufficient to get the FDA interested. Sadly , it takes a few years for enough cases to reach the agency in order for it to act. The one death they looked into was of a teen-aged boy back in 2007. The Hydroxycut recall didn’t happen until 2009, however, which which authorized for time for the FDA to analyze the problem and react. In the interim, it’s hard telling how many additional health problems resulted from folks continuing to use the diet supplement.

All of this information might cause you question whether the system is set up the way it should be. Should the FDA policies be modified in order that they have more control of the diet product industry? Is it right for the firms that make these products to be permitted to advertise that their diet drugs are safe and made only of natural ingredients? This type of so-so advertising lulls the public into a fake sense of complacency. Most people believe that if a product is sitting on store shelves and available for widespread public use, it must have been tested and proved safe. Sadly, this isn’t always the case.

The Hydroxycut recall brought the difficulty into public focus, but if there is a problem with the product, shouldn’t the company making the drug be held responsible for safety issues? Should the people be put through a barrage of products that will essentially be unsafe to their health? In fact, prescription medications, and even many types of over-the-counter drugs, are required to pass stringent scrutiny by the FDA. Why then are other products which are equally-capable of damaging someone’s health being authorized on the market without these safeguards in place?

Apparently you can put any kind of preparation into a shiny carton and call it a diet supplement. Everyone knows this is true, because everyone’s seen hundreds of products that have been offered as helping people to shed pounds which really do not work at all. The diet drug industry is booming to the tune of billions of dollars every year, and people are risking their health taking uncontrolled chemicals. The recent Hydroxycut recall has brought this fact to the public attention like never before making people realize that changes need to made in the system.

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