Hydroxycut, Fen-phen and Ephedra: The Weight Loss Nightmare

Houston, TXIf you have been using dietary supplements to aid in your weight loss, then you are by now probably aware of the recent Hydroxycut recall announced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Iovate Health Sciences. The recall was announced after the FDA received reports of serious Hydroxycut side effects, including liver failure.

So far, the FDA has received reports of 23 serious health problems linked to Hydroxycut products. The agency also received a report of 1 death—a teenage male who used Hydroxycut dietary supplements. The FDA is not yet sure what ingredient in the Hydroxycut products causes liver damage.

The furor over the side effects linked to Hydroxycut has people asking if there is anything that is safe to take as a weight loss supplement. History, however, indicates that at least some weight loss supplements have serious side effects.

It was over a decade ago that Fen-phen (an anti-obesity drug that contained fenfluramine and phentermine) was widely used on the market. Of course, Fen-phen was later linked to an increased risk of pulmonary hypertension and valvular heart disease. The risk was especially high in women, although that may have been because Fen-phen was used more often by women than by men. In 1997, the FDA requested that Fen-phen be removed from the market.

In announcing its removal from the market, the FDA noted that findings from doctors found "approximately 30 percent of patients who were evaluated had abnormal echocardiograms, even though they had no symptoms."

The removal of Fen-phen from the market was followed by the filing of thousands of lawsuits against the maker of the drug, alleging it caused serious heart problems and, in some cases, resulted in death. One death that was linked to Fen-phen involved a 30-year-old woman who died after taking Fen-phen for less than a month. The woman was trying to lose a few pounds before her wedding. A lawsuit filed by the woman's family was eventually settled for an undisclosed amount.

In addition to Fen-phen, there was also a great deal of concern about Ephedra, a product found in some weight loss supplements, including Hydroxycut. Ephedra was widely used for weight loss and to help boost energy, however critics alleged the supplement caused heart attacks, strokes and death—including, allegedly, the death of a 23 year old pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles and the deaths of 2 dozen soldiers, according to CBS news.

Ephedra was banned in 2004, after consumer advocates and medical experts repeatedly argued that the supplement was dangerous. A CBS News report states that before Ephedra was banned, it was linked to 155 deaths and 16,000 adverse events. Those adverse events included an Army pilot who was left without his functional memory.

So now we have Hydroxycut, allegedly causing liver failure and other serious side effects. The FDA has announced a recall of a number of Hydroxycut products (although not all of them), while Hydroxycut's maker has said that the recall was announced, "out of an abundance of caution."

A 2008 case series and review of liver toxicity that appeared in the World Journal of Gastroenterology, noted that Hydroxycut, "has been suspected to have possible liver toxicity,"—note that this was written at the end of 2008, before the FDA's recall was announced. The case review illustrated 2 women who experienced "severe acute hepatitis" after using Hydroxycut. One of the women, a 40-year-old bodybuilder, began taking 6 Hydroxycut pills a day just one week before experiencing side effects. The second woman was a 33-year-old who took Hydroxycut for 2 weeks for weight loss but stopped taking the dietary supplement when she experienced side effects.

According to the researchers, "Both patients in this report used the dietary supplement Hydroxycut within a short time frame before presenting with acute hepatitis, suggesting Hydroxycut as the most likely etiology for acute liver injury." Furthermore, neither of the patients had a history that would explain their liver problems. The researchers go on to note that some key ingredients in Hydroxycut have been linked to liver toxicity. Those include G. Cambogia, Chromium and Camellia Sinensis (the scientific name for green tea).

Hydroxycut is a popular weight loss supplement, used by millions of people, so it may seem that 23 reports of serious injury is a small amount, carrying with it very little risk. However, it is important to keep in mind that people taking Hydroxycut could purchase it without a prescription, so there is a good chance their doctors did not know they were taking it. Even if those patients fell ill after taking the supplement, they may not have made the connection that Hydroxycut could be linked to their side effects.

That means that there could be many more people who suffered serious Hydroxycut side effects who have no idea that they did.