Hydroxycut diet aids recalled after FDA warns regarding liver injury
Television advertising has made "Hydroxycut" a household name in dieting. After the Food and Drug Administration received 23 reports of significant adverse health effects related to Hydroxycut, including heart damage, muscle damage leading to kidney failure, and a liver transplant, the drug has been removed from the U.S. market.
Reports in medical journals had linked the dietary supplement to serious liver disease in six patients who took the recommended dosage. GNC and Vitamin Shoppe, two of the larger retailers of Hydroxycut products, have removed them from shelves and the American distributor has voluntarily recalled 14 different Hydroxycut products. Because the ingredients in Hydroxycut products have varied over time, the FDA is not clear which products are responsible for health problems.The FDA does not approve "dietary supplements" in advance. It only has jurisdiction over supplements on the market that prove to be harmful or adulterated. Between December of 2008 and May of 2009, it issued a list of 70 brands of dietary supplement that "contained hidden and potential hazardous drugs" according to the New York Times.