Taking diet pills for weight loss could damage your liver. Diet pills on the shelf at the store or prescribed by your doctor are not always safe. Although diet pills contain known dietary ingredients or have approval from the Food and Drug Administration, people who take them can still experience detrimental health conditions like liver damage. To reduce your risk of diet pill side effects, talk to your doctor about using diet and exercise for weight loss instead.
The Liver
In adults, the liver is about the size of a football. It performs hundreds of essential functions, including producing bile, cleansing the blood and storing sugar. Bile carries waste products away from the liver and helps your small intestine break down fats. The liver sits between your diaphragm and stomach, in the right-hand portion of your abdomen. It is your largest internal organ and holds about 13 percent of your blood.
Diet Pills
Prescription diet pills and dietary supplements sold as diet pills must abide by FDA regulations. Pharmaceutical companies must test the prescription medication on animals and humans before marketing it and then send the results to the FDA along with an application. Scientists from the FDA review the information and accept or reject the application. In the case of dietary supplements, as long as the product has no "new dietary ingredients," the FDA does not require pre-market approval. Once the product hits the shelves, the FDA responds to any adverse reaction reports.
FDA Recall
The Food and Drug Administration recalled 14 Hydroxycut products in May 2009 after receiving 23 reports of adverse reactions to the liver over several years. These products included five kinds of diet pills and several ready-to-drink beverages and drink mixes. According to the adverse reaction reports, of the 23 patients who experienced liver damage, some required liver transplants and one died. The FDA warns consumers there is an association with Hydroxycut products and liver damage. However, it does not know which ingredient or combination of ingredients caused the liver problems.
Orlistat
As of May 2010, diet pills with orlistat must have a new label warning consumers the product potentially causes severe liver damage. Orlistat comes in prescription strength of 120 mg and an over-the-counter strength of 60 mg. The FDA received 32 reports of serious liver injury associated with orlistat, including six patients with liver failure, since the drug's approval in 1999. The number of reports from prescription strength orlistat far outnumbered the over-the-counter strength reports. The FDA reports there is no direct proof of cause and effect between orlistat and liver damage.
References
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Questions and Answers: Hydroxycut; September 2009
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Questions and Answers: Orlistat and Severe Liver Injury; May 2010
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Liver Disease; February 2008
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration; What is the Approval Process for a New Prescription Drug?; January 2010
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Dietary Supplements; July 2011
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