Obesity drug withdrawn over increased risk of heart attack

Published on Thursday 21 January 2010 23:34

A LEADING obesity drug widely used in Scotland is being withdrawn from use, following fears that it increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) last night suspended the prescribing of sibutramine, marketed as Reductil, following an European study of the drug.

The agency has ordered doctors to stop prescribing sibutramine and to review its use by patients already taking it.

The drug works by altering chemical messages to the brain that control feelings about food.

The most recent figures show that almost 30,000 prescriptions for this drug were issued in 2007-8 in Scotland.

While sibutramine is a common obesity drug, the most popular, Orlistat, a pill that prevents fat absorption, is much more widely used and is taken by hundreds of thousands of people each year.

Dr June Raine, the director of Vigilance and Risk Management of Medicines at the MHRA, said: "Evidence suggests that there is an increased risk of non-fatal heart attacks and strokes with this medicine that outweigh the benefits of weight loss, which is modest and may not be sustained in the long term after stopping treatment."

Dr Raine said no new prescriptions should be issued and doctors should review the treatment of patients taking the drug.

She added: "Pharmacists are asked to cease dispensing the medicine.

"People who are currently taking Reductil are advised to make a routine appointment with their doctor to discuss alternative measures to lose weight. There are no health implications if people wish to stop treatment before seeing their doctor."

However, Professor David Haslam, of the National Obesity Forum, said that it was "disappointing" to see a drug that doctors had been using effectively for almost a decade was being suspended at a time when the nation was experiencing an "obesity epidemic".

"We knew something like this was coming. Information about the some of the trial results had been leaked," he said, but added that the MHRA statement lacked enough information for GPs to have an informed opinion about their reasons for suspending the drug's use.

Prof Haslam said the European trial had been examining the impact of the drug on people with heart problems, and he believed that, because some of the test results had shown it had a negative effect on their health, the effects were being extrapolated to all other users.

He added: "We are going to have to look at this closely. It will mean taking thousands of people off this drug and then managing the negative effects that come with weight regain. It's a step that needs to be taken with great care.

"You have to look at the health benefits against the risks," he said. "Anything has a potential risk – paracetamol, aspirin – but you have to see if the benefits outweigh the risks."