Imported Diets Pills Contain Illegal Drugs

Health Risks Include Chest Pains, Palpitations, Nausea, and Insomnia

A recent report by the Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge and Harvard Medical School, Boston, warns of dangerous adverse health effects in people using amphetamine-based weight loss pills purchased through the Internet.

Specifically, the report highlights pills imported from Brazil, where doctors in private practice allegedly concoct 'compounded' diet pills - pills containing several drugs, some of which are illegal in the US, including amphetamines and antidepressants.

In one case cited in the report a young woman using Brazilian diet pills tested positive for amphetamines (stimulants) and benzodiazepines (anti-anxiety drugs), the stimulant fenproporex, which is banned in the US, and the anti-anxiety drug chlordiazepoxide. Routine drug screening in a 38-year old man taking imported diet pills revealed the presence of fenproporex and the antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac).

The lead author of the report, Dr. Pieter A. Cohen, became concerned about the availability and use of imported diet pills after noting that many patients were experiencing chest pains, palpitations, insomnia, headaches and other symptoms that could not be explained, until some of the patients admitted to using imported diet pills.

Dr. Cohen warns that the labels on the pills can be misleading, and that people very often have no idea of what drugs are contained in the pills, and the serious health threats they pose. Furthermore, none of the drugs used in the pills are indicated in accepted treatment guidelines for weight loss or the treatment of obesity.

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Published on Jan-7-09