Diet Pill Withdrawn From The Market For Cardiac Risk

Abbott Laboratories said Friday its intention to withdraw the diet pill Meridia in the United States and Canada, nearly a year after studies showed the drug increased the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients with a history of heart disease.

Food and Drug Administration scientists said they demanded the withdrawal because the drug s risks were not justified in relation to "the very modest weight loss that people realize this drug."

"Doctors should stop prescribing to their patients Meridia and patients should stop taking this drug," Dr. John Jenkins, director FDA 's for new drugs, said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, the department of Health Canada, the nation 's health, announced that Abbott voluntarily pull the drug off the market there. Meridia is available in both countries for over a decade.

European regulators withdrew the product from the market in January, after a study showed that patients with heart disease had a 11 percent chance of heart attack or stroke while taking the drug compared to a risk of 10 percent for those who do not take it.

Regulators in the United States and Canada said they based their decisions on the same data.

Meridia is not widely used in the United States, with a sharp decline in prescriptions in recent years. About 283,000 prescriptions for it were completed last year, slightly more than half the number in 2005. The typical patient remains the drug for about 50 days, according to figures from the FDA. Eighty percent of users are middle-aged women.

North Chicago-based Abbott said he still believes the drug has a positive risk-benefit profile, but agreed to comply with the request of the FDA s'.

Last month, a group of advisors Food and Drug Administration issued a split vote of 8-8 on whether to allow the continued marketing of Meridia. The FDA is not bound to follow the advice of the group, though it often does.

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