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Meridia Lawyer

Motley Rice is reviewing and closely monitoring Meridia®, a drug used as a short-term supplement to diet and exercise for the treatment of obesity, following reports that the drug may cause adverse cardiovascular effects. Manufactured by global health care company Abbott Laboratories, Inc., Meridia has been associated with the increased risk of heart attack and stroke in at-risk patients.

Meridia Side Effects

Evidence suggests that Meridia may contribute to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and other adverse side effects, specifically among those having a history of heart disease and high blood pressure. Reported side effects associated with the use of Meridia include:

  • Abdominal pain
  • Back pain
  • Bronchitis
  • Cramps
  • Dizziness 
  • Dry mouth 
  • Flu-like symptoms
  • Headaches
  • Indigestion
  • Ischemic stroke 
  • Joint pain
  • Loss of strength
  • Myocardial Infarction
  • Nausea 
  • Seizures
  • Shortness of breath

Contact Motley Rice

 

Contact a Meridia Lawyer

If you or a loved one may have experienced adverse effects, contact Meridia lawyer Carmen Scott  by email or call 1.800.768.4026. 

Meridia History and Potential Dangers

Generically known as Sibutramine and sold throughout the European Union as Reductil®, Reduxade® and Zelium®, Meridia is a neurotransmitter reuptake inhibitor that regulates appetite by affecting chemicals in the brain.

The FDA issued a warning on January 21, 2010 linking Meridia to cardiovascular complications and indicating that the drug may be too dangerous for people already having high blood pressure or a history of other heart problems. The FDA recommends that Meridia should not be taken by people with:

  • History of heart attack or coronary artery disease
  • History of stroke or transient ischemic attack, sometimes called TIA or mini-stroke) 
  • History of an irregular heartbeat 
  • History of heart failure
  • History of peripheral artery disease

Although FDA-approved in 1997 for certain groups of patients at risk for obesity, there have been calls to ban the drug in the Unites States since 2002 after the FDA issued a warning letter to Abbot Laboratories in August 2002 when the manufacturer failed to report the death of a Meridia user and inaccurately reported serious reactions among users of three other Abbot medications. The FDA warning followed a more recent study of 5, 000 patients showing that a significant amount of those taking Meridia developed heart problems when compared with the same amount of patients taking a placebo. 

The FDA warning was issued on the same day that the European Medicines Agency pulled the drug from the European market completely. In response to the European withdrawal of Meridia, Dr. June Raine of The U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency commented, “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.”

The FDA has not pulled the drug from the U.S. market but says that Abbott has agreed to add a stronger warning clearly stating that Meridia should not be used in patients with a history of cardiovascular disease. The agency will also be holding a public advisory committee meeting to evaluate whether further regulatory action is needed after reviewing a full report of a study called Scout. Scout tested Meridia compared with a placebo in about 10,000 patients, and the FDA expects Abbot to submit the complete results in March 2010.