FDA panel split on whether to pull Meridia off the market.
In follow up to our recent post, the FDA panel met to discuss the fate of the diet pill Meridia. It’s reported today that the FDA advisory panel voted a split decision, 8 votes to pull the drug and 8 votes recommend allowing it to remain on the market with stricter warnings. Of issue here is the increased risk of cardiovascular injuries, such as a stroke or heart attack by its users when compared to the modest weight loss benefits. Meridia was first approved in the US in 1997. In 2009 a study revealed that users of Meridia had an 11% risk of suffering a stroke or heart attack. The FDA is reporting 14 deaths linked to Meridia with an average age of 43 and mostly women. The Public Citizen Health Research Group, which first petitioned FDA to ban Meridia in 2002, says the drug poses a "deadly tradeoff" between modest weight loss and the danger of heart attack and stroke. Sanjav Kaul, MD, a panel member and cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, suggests that Meridia had turned out to be a disappointment to patients hoping to use it to safely lose weight. "It was touted to be a magic bullet, but in some cases it's more bullet than magic," he says.