Friday, April 24, 2009
From the "Approved Drugs Are Safe" Department
A new drug comes on the market, approved by the FDA etc, and we blindly presume this means it will do the job and not harm us. Time and time again this isn't the case. Unless you are desperate (ie wil die otherwise), please think twice about any drug that has been available for only a few years. Read and weep:
Many people who took the anti-obesity drug fenfluramine before it was banned in 1997 carried on developing damage to their heart valves long after stopping the medication, a study of 5743 former users reveals (BMC Medicine, DOI: 10.1186/1741-7015-6-34). Of these, 20 per cent of women and 12 per cent of men were affected. For all ex-users, the chances of needing surgery for valve damage was seven times normal.
from New Scientist
Many people who took the anti-obesity drug fenfluramine before it was banned in 1997 carried on developing damage to their heart valves long after stopping the medication, a study of 5743 former users reveals (BMC Medicine, DOI: 10.1186/1741-7015-6-34). Of these, 20 per cent of women and 12 per cent of men were affected. For all ex-users, the chances of needing surgery for valve damage was seven times normal.
from New Scientist
Labels: fenfluramine
