Anti-obesity drug Sibutramine faces ban due to side-effects
POSTED November 13, 2010 - 14:16 | POSTED BY Jasmine
Last edited by Silky Chandvani on November 13, 2010 - 16:16
The decision was taken after the expert panel appointed by DCGI revealed that the drug has potential to cause serious side effects such as heart attacks, strokes, and cardiac arrest among its users.
When contacted, a DCGI spokesman confirmed the news saying, “We have asked the Health Ministry to ban the drug completely from the market,” under section 26 A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act."
He added, “We have suspended the import and manufacturing of the drug and its formulations with immediate effect.”
DCGI has proposed that committees should be formed to look after the safety of various such drugs in the market and also if there are some other safer alternatives that can be introduced in its place in India.
The expert committee comprised Dr. Y.K. Gupta, pharmacologist (All-India Institute of Medical Sciences), Dr. Anoop Misra (Fortis Hospital) endocrinologist A.C. Ammini (AIIMS), and S.D. Seth (Institute of Clinical Research).
Sibutramine banned world wide
India is not the first one to ban the anti-obesity drug Sibutramine from its market place as many other countries are doing the same after finding out its side-effects.
The drug has already been banned in the United States, Australia, and Canada. China withdrew whole stock of the drug from it’s markets across nation on Tuesday.
Even the European Medicine Agency (EMA) recently ordered complete withdrawal of this drug.
Third one in recent past
It seems like DCGI is on a serious mission to eliminate all the drugs that can be potentially dangerous to individual's health.
Last month, the import and manufacture of Rosiglitazone, an anti-diabetic drug, was banned by the government.
In 2009, anti-obesity pill Rimonabant was banned, after studies showed that it causes depression and suicidal tendencies.
About anti-obesity drugs
These days there are quite a lot of slimming drugs like Sibutramine, Orlistat, Metforming etc available in the market, promising weight-loss without having to go to through rigorous workout regime.
These so-called weight-loss drugs work by altering one of the fundamental processes in the human body such as appetite, absorption of calories or metabolism.
However, these drugs can leave one with serious side-effects. So if one is desirous of losing weight then he/she should stick with safer methods like physical exercise.
In:
