Abbott Laboratories announced Friday that it will withdraw its weight-loss drug Meridia from the Canadian and U.S. markets following requests by Health Canada and the U.S. FDA. The drug s removal comes a year after studies suggested that patients with heart disease had an 11 percent risk of heart attack or stroke while on the drug, compared to a 10 percent risk for those not taking the drug.
ACSH s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, however, questions whether Meridia should be banned altogether. What if a patient doesn t have a history of heart disease, why can t that person have access to the drug? she asks. Even though you may be incurring risk by taking Meridia, obesity itself carries many risks, which also need to be weighed by the physician and patient. Those trying to lose weight need all the help they can get, because the body doesn t want you to be less fat it s fighting you as you try to lose weight.
Adds ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross: I fail to understand why the majority of patients getting Meridia from their doctors who do not have a history of heart disease must now seek alternative treatment. The decision process, once restricted to the doctor-patient relationship, seems to be getting less intimate and more subject to regulatory whim.