Pharmacists' Drug Commission supports withdrawal of sibutramine

02.02.2010 14:50

Professor Schulz: Be careful of other offers on the Internet

The Medicines Commission of German Pharmacists (AMK) supports the latest recommendation of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Afterwards, the market approvals for all appetite suppressants containing the active ingredient sibutramine (Reductil®, etc.) will be suspended. The background to the EMA recommendation is new findings on the cardiovascular safety of the substance.

The EMA and the German regulatory authority BfArM recommend that doctors no longer prescribe sibutramine. All pharmacies in Germany were immediately informed by the AMK on Friday and asked to no longer sell medicines containing sibutramine. The manufacturer Abbott will follow the CHMP recommendation and suspend the marketing of its drugs containing the active ingredient sibutramine in all member states of the European Union (EU), as well as in Iceland and Norway, which are part of the European Economic Area. Abbott markets sibutramine under the brand names Reductil, Meridia, Sibutral, Ectiva and Raductil.

The chairman of the AMK, Professor Dr. Martin Schulz: “Patients are strongly advised not to resort to dubious mail order companies on the Internet, who may still send Reductil from countries where the drug has not (yet) been taken off the market.” The AMK also expressly warns against supposedly risk-free – for example herbal – alternative means “for losing weight”.

Schulz: “The increasingly frequent offers from dubious providers on the Internet must not obscure the fact that the safety, effectiveness and quality as well as the composition of the preparations have often not been checked.”