Comments on: Hydroxycut causes liver damage, and why we need to regulate supplements

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 11 May 2009 03:21:00 +0000

I posted about hydroxycut in Iraq on my blog 2 yrs ago, but I’ll say it again, the majority of health food supplements DON’T DO ANYTHING!!! So regulation is not the answer. Its education of a gullible public who buys this garbage!! Its a multi BILLION dollar industry… and who’s dollars are they? The same people who go to chiropractors, purchase colon cleanse, visit the cancer treatment center of america, visit “N.D”‘s, and buy Kevin Trudeau’s “books”.

Ephedra and Hydroxycut were rarely fatal, but the entire industry is just a joke and fleecing America.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 09 May 2009 00:46:00 +0000

Well, if anyone is harmed, there obviously must be more regulation. If we can just get the enough laws in place, no one will ever have to take risks or suffer from their own decisions or from misfortune.

By: Christian Molstrom

Christian Molstrom — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:46:00 +0000

The purpose of regulation is not to remove harmful drugs from the market, it is to control access to them depending on risks, and provide information about risks so that consumers can make informed decisions. Those are all good things. It also adds some protection from liability, which hydroxycut will most certainly be facing.

I don’t know how rigorous the effectiveness and risk studies should be for any new product. These things are very expensive to do well. It is always a innovation vs. safety issue. Perhaps there should be mandatory reporting of serious adverse events, like a death, even for herbs/supplements. That would make sense.

By: stargirl65

stargirl65 — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:22:00 +0000

A friend of mine has a daughter in her senior year in college. She has been taking hydroxycut. She now needs a liver transplant. If this had been reported earlier then maybe she would be OK.

Yes, I realize that we cannot remove all dangerous drugs from the market, but people should be informed of the risks. For coumadin and others the risks are known and weighed against the benefits. This does not happen with these otc herbal medicines. It is not the same.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:55:00 +0000

It will cost substantially more if it's regulated by the FDA. The FDA has to hire additional scientists, doctors, etc. to supervise. In addition, the manufacturer will need to conduct animal & people trials. All this will get passed onto the consumer, and then there will no longer be any OTC supplements and everything will be by prescription only.

Mostly likely, the reason supplements are not regulated by the FDA is that there is no incentive (fee) to do so.

By: The Happy Hospitalist

The Happy Hospitalist — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:46:00 +0000

Um. Any idea how many people die every year from warfarin, when used as directed? How about NSAIDS. Lasix? ACEi? The list is endless regarding the toxic side effects of both over the counter and prescription drugs, even when used as directed.

Remember Phen-Fen? Regulated and still caused disasters.

How does regulating hydroxycut make it any less likely to cause harm. If we are going to remove all drugs that cause harm, regulated or not, then we will have to remove all drugs.

By: XMD

XMD — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:40:00 +0000

Weight Loss Medicines should only be taken under a doctor’s supervision, whether Over the counter or not. Unfortunately the humans quest for an easy weight loss solution leads to such unfortunate incidents.