Worthington Law Group
Injury Law Report

Recently, the FDA issued a nationwide warning for consumers to stop using Hydroxycut, because of reports that it caused serious liver damage. Hydroxycut is a popular nonprescription weight loss product that advertises heavily on television. Even though the Hydroxycut warning received a lot of attention a larger and potentially more serious health warning has gone unnoticed.

In December 2008, the FDA warned consumers to stop using no fewer than 28 different weight loss products that may be purchased without a prescription. This happened because each of them contained one or more undeclared ingredients (ingredients that are in the pill but that are not listed on the label) that could cause any number of serious injuries. Since its initial warning, the FDA has done additional testing and has added an additional 41 tainted weight loss products that also contain undeclared and harmful ingredients. Many of these products advertise themselves as “herbal” or “all natural,” but nothing could be further from the truth.

Dangerous Ingredients

So what are the ingredients in these weight loss pills and powders? Many different things, ranging from sibutramine (an illegal drug), to prescription drugs intended for purposes other than weight loss. Ingredients may also include rimonabant (a drug not approved for use in the United States), and even chemicals that are suspected carcinogens. Needless to say, the FDA is advising consumers to stop taking the tainted drugs and to see a doctor if they suffer from any unusual symptoms.

Some of the health risks posed by the undeclared ingredients in these pills are very serious. For example, sibutramine (which has been found in several products) can cause high blood pressure, seizures, strokes, and heart attacks. Rimonabant, a prescription drug used in Europe, is linked to increased risk of depression and suicidal thoughts in users. Cetilistat, an anti obesity drug that is only now undergoing clinical trials, can cause organ rejection and gastrointestinal problems in certain people.

Other diet pills have been found to contain drugs (such as bumetanide, a diuretic, and fluoxetine, the active ingredient in Prozac) that are approved for use in the United States and are appropriate with a prescription. Unfortunately, these drugs can be dangerous to people who don't understand what they are taking. Finally, many of the pills contain substances that are not drugs at all, but chemicals that should never be ingested, such as phenolphthalein, a carcinogen.

Origins

Many of the products subject to the FDA's warning are not manufactured in the United States, and the FDA believes that a majority of them are made in China. It is also suspected that these products also come from other countries, including Brazil, Malaysia, and Peru.

The manufacturers of these pills are violating U.S. law. Either their products contain a prescription medication (in which case they cannot be sold without FDA approval) or they are not actually exempt “dietary supplements.” In many cases, the label information on these products is false and misleading.

The fact that these pills are coming from other countries presents a very real problem: If a product is made in the United States, the FDA can order a recall (as with Hydroxycut). If it comes from a foreign country, the FDA often lacks the practical ability to end the drug's production. Market size and scope is also a problem: Every year billions are spent on weight loss pills and the FDA simply lacks the resources to test all pills to determine their ingredients.

Because there are so many products, concerned consumers should check the FDA's website for product warnings and recall information, www.fda.gov, or call toll free at 1 888 INFO FDA (888 463 6332). And remember, the best way to lose weight is to eat less and exercise more, which has the added benefit of not enticing you to spend money on a pill that might cause harm.

The number of lawsuits against nursing homes, alleging negligence and substandard care, is rising. The Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services issued a recent report that confirms the prevalence of problems with nursing homes.

According to the report, over 90% of all nursing homes in the United States were cited for some kind of deficiency, with 17% having a problem that caused actual harm or put residents in immediate danger.

This information came from unannounced surveys of nursing homes that participate in Medicare and Medicaid. The surveys categorize 190 different possible problems. These are in areas ranging from patient rights to quality of care, infection control, and administration. The most common areas where deficiencies were found include; quality of care, resident assessment, and quality of life.

A long follow up survey is done to assess the true scope of the problem when the problems relate to the standard of care provided to the residents. Depending on the number and severity of the violations, nursing homes may be ordered to fix the problem(s), may be fined, may be subject to closer monitoring, or may even be closed. This next fact may surprise you. For profit facilities actually have a higher rate of problems and a higher number of average problems per facility than non profit and government facilities.

As the number of elderly citizens increases, the number of problems is likely to increase. Unfortunately, mandatory arbitration provisions and corporate shell games frequently make it difficult or impossible to collect damages from a nursing home that has caused an injury or death.

If you or a loved one has suffered from nursing home negligence, call us. We will be happy to discuss your case and the options available to you.