Questions Raised Over Meridia Withdrawal
The decision by Abbott Laboratories to withdraw weight loss Canadian drug Meridia from US and Canadian pharmacies following requests and Health Canada has come under question by some Doctors. Although the Canadian drug has been found to give a higher risk – by around eleven percent - of heart attack and stroke to patients who already have a history of heart disease, many Doctors are wondering if the decision to ban the drug from US and Canadian pharmacies altogether isn’t just a little bit excessive, and in fact being unfair toward patients who use the drug who do not have a history of heart disease.
“What if a patient doesn’t have a history of heart disease, why can’t that person have access to the drug?” questions Dr. Elizabeth Whelan of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH). “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 lose less fat – it’s fighting you as you try to lose weight.”
Whelan isn’t the only Doctor to question the need for a full Meridia withdrawal. Dr. Gilbert Ross, also with the ACSH, likewise thinks the move is unwise and unfair. “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,” he says. “The decision process, once restricted to the doctor-patient relationship, seems to be getting less intimate and more subject to regulatory whim.”
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