About Fen-Phen

In the earlier 1990's, the United States' diet craze and mission for thinness found a new drug of choice, Fen-Phen, guaranteed to help users finally lose weight. Two drugs, fenfluramine and phentermine, came up with the Fen-Phen beverage. Fenfluramine works in the body by releasing extra amounts of serotonin, which is the neurotransmitter in charge of feelings of satiety and fullness. Phentermine, a stimulant, would counteract the sleepiness inducing qualities of a surge of the hormone serotonin. The two drugs had fewer part effects when taken together than when taken individually. Even though America had not already been diet drug crazy since the amphetamine use of the 1960's, Fen-Phen seemed like a different sort of weight loss aid. A new 1983 study over the course of four years found that obese patients (those weighing 200 pounds or more) lost 32 pounds on average when taking the drug drink. This research, along with the medical community's support and users' results, allowed Fen-Phen to dominate the diet medicine market in the 1990's.

In 1996 alone, there were 18 million prescriptions written for Fen-Phen. American Home Products, the company accountable for manufacturing Fen-Phen, made Fen-Phen accessible to the public without proper warnings and side effect information. In April 1996, American Home Items also started producing Redux, a diet drug that was approved to sell despite a 5-3 vote by a scientific screen against its approval. Inside a year and a half after its approval, 2. 5 million prescriptions for Redux had already already been written for dieters.

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Within 1997, the Mayo Center phenq released a study with regards to the serious side effects and long lasting health problems ensuing from the use of Fen-Phen. The most common complication of the drug was heart valve defects, more specifically aortic and mitral valves. The center problems caused by Fen-Phen would require risky heart surgery. Other difficulties included primary pulmonary hypertension, a devastating disease in which blood pressure in the pulmonary artery goes up to dangerous levels and creates additional cardiac stress. Soon after, in September 1997, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drawn this diet drugs from the market. By this point, United states Home Products had made about $200 million from cashing in on the diet craze.