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Dieters turn their backs on Fen-Phen and Redux
'You're gonna die ... don't take those pills'
September 12, 1997
Web posted at: 6:58 p.m. EDT (2258 GMT)LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- There was a time when the diet drug combination popularly known as Fen-Phen and another known as Redux were so popular that pharmacists could scarcely keep them in stock. But no longer.
In the wake of warnings from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that the drugs may cause heart problems, there has been a precipitous drop-off in consumption.
Fenfluramine and phentermine (Fen-Phen) work by altering brain chemistry to make people feel full after eating less. But the FDA issued a warning after a Mayo Clinic study linked the combination to rare heart-valve defects in 80 Fen-Phen patients.
CNN's Linda Ciampa reports
There has been at least one death linked to the drug. In July, the wife of North Miami Beach's mayor suffered a fatal heart attack that doctors blame, in part, on Fen-Phen.
The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that Redux and another diet drug, Pondimin, were associated with brain dysfunctions in animals, and could cause pulmonary hypertension.
Earlier this week, the Florida State Board of Medicine banned Fen-Phen for 90 days until it could devise strict rules for its use.
Dieters don't need to be warned twice
Thousands, perhaps millions of people, have already made the decision to stop using the drugs.
"Most people I know won't touch the stuff any more," says one woman. "That's it -- over and done with."
"I said forget this stuff," says another. "I'm not gonna do this anymore. It's just making me a nervous wreck. I can do that on my own without a drug."
Bel-Air pharmacist Bob Zuckerman says Fen-Phen and Redux used to disappear rapidly from the shelves, but not now.
"We're lucky if we see one or two a day," he says, "where we used to see 10 to 15 a day."
Author of Redux book now seldom prescribes it
Some weight-loss centers -- including Nutrisystem -- have also stopped offering Fen-Phen and Redux.
And, while many doctors have become very conservative about writing prescriptions for the drugs, many patients also have stopped asking for them.
According to Dr. Mortimer Maxwell of UCLA, "Our census decreased markedly over the last four to six months, because all the media, including TV, ran stories on primary pulmonary hypertension and then lately on heart disease. So people got phone calls from friends that said 'You're gonna die ... don't take those pills.'"
A new report from IMS America researchers shows that weekly prescriptions for Redux have fallen 52 percent since February. Prescriptions for fenfluramine have dropped 63 percent.
And the doctor who wrote the book "The Redux Revolution" says he won't prescribe Redux unless a patient has obesity-related health problems.
While Fen-Phen and Redux are in decline, pharmaceutical companies are developing new diet drugs they hope will fare better than their celebrated predecessors.
Correspondent Linda Ciampa contributed to this report.
- Consumer News: Fitness and Health - Obesity
Related stories:
- Florida becomes first state to ban Fen-Phen use - September 9, 1997
- Dieters get double-barreled warning about fen-phen - August 27, 1997
- Anti-obesity drug to get warning label - August 22, 1997
- Study: Fen-Phen causes heart disease - July 8, 1997
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
- Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
- Fen-Phen FAQ - site developed by the leading FEN/PHEN proponent and practitioner, Dr. Pietr Hitzig
- Fen-Phen, Side Effects - from California Weight Loss Associates
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Pulmonary Hypertension Association
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
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