On May 1, 2009, the FDA issued a recall of 14 different types of Hydroxycut products manufactured by Iovate Medical Sciences. All of these products were promoted as aids for weight loss, fat burners, energy enhancers, and minimal cost diet products in grocery stores, drug stores, and cut price stores all over the United States And in 70 other nations. This Hydroxycut recall was based on reports turned into the FDA concerning serious liver issues as well as a death that have been associated with the drugs.
Some internet sites will tell you the Hydroxycut recall was completely voluntary on the part of Iovate ; however, remember the FDA played an important role in making it happen. Many reports of issues related to diet drugs are never passed along to the FDA, as the agency isn’t set up to monitor products like these which technically are not medicines. However, when enough reports of health problems filter into the organization, they do take notice and proceed to do something about it. After all, public health is their primary concern.
Reports of 23 cases of severe liver damage and 1 death, all related to Hydroxycut, were enough to get the FDA interested. Unfortunately, it requires a period of 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 investigate the issue and react. Meanwhile, it’s hard telling how many further health issues resulted from people continuing to use the diet supplement.
All of this information might make you question whether the system is set up the way it should be. Should the FDA policies be changed so they have more control of the diet product industry? Is it right for the companies that make these products to be permitted to publicize that their diet drugs are safe and made only of natural ingredients? This kind of so-so advertising lulls the public into a fake sense of complacency. The general public believe that if a product is sitting on store shelves and available for widespread public use, it must have been tested and proved safe. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.
The Hydroxycut recall brought the problem into public focus, but if there’s a problem with the product, should not the company making the drug be held responsible for safety issues? If the folks be put through a barrage of products that may actually be unsafe to their health? Of course, prescription medicines, and even many sorts of over-the-counter drugs, are required to pass tough perusal by the FDA. Why then are other products which are equally-capable of damaging someone’s health being permitted on the market without these guarantees in place?
Apparently you can put any kind of preparation into a glossy carton and call it a diet supplement. We all know that this is true, because we’ve all seen hundreds of products that have been hailed as helping folks to shed pounds which basically 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.
