FDA warns dieters: Stop Hydroxycut use immediately

WASHINGTON – Government health officials warned dieters and body builders Friday to immediately stop using Hydroxycut, a widely sold supplement linked to cases of serious liver damage and at least one death.


The Food and Drug Administration said the maker of the dietary supplement has agreed to recall 14 Hydroxycut products. Available in grocery stores and pharmacies, Hydroxycut is advertised as made from natural ingredients. At least 9 million packages were sold last year, the FDA said.


Dr. Linda Katz of the FDA's food and nutrition division said the agency has received 23 reports of liver problems, including the death of a 19-year-old boy living in the Southwest. The teenager died in 2007, and the death was reported to the FDA this March.


Other patients experienced symptoms ranging from jaundice, or yellowing of the skin, to liver failure. One received a transplant and another was placed on a list to await a new liver.


There was no immediate comment from the U.S. distributor of the diet pill, Iovate Health Sciences, headquartered near Buffalo, N.Y. Made by a Canadian company, Hydroxycut is used by people trying to shed pounds and by body builders to sharpen their muscles.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090501/ap_on_he_me/us_med_diet_pill_recall

OMG, Dark Knight! Thank you for posting this. My husband has a friend that has been using this off and on. He will be calling him shortly. I actually used it to, after the birth of my first son I joined a fitness center and someone there suggested it. I didn't take it for long or with any regularity because I have trouble remembering to take medication. Thank God!

TY DK, my DH shot this out to all his troops.