FTC fines 4 diet pill manufacturers

Diet pills, like certain bodybuilding supplements, don't really fit into either category of food or drug. The Food and Drug Administration does not evaluate the claims of diet pill manufacturers and so all their ads have a little disclaimer at the bottom; that whatever benefits are promised in exchange for your money, well, you might not actually get those benefits. Has anyone heard of "myostatin blocker?"

WASHINGTON - The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday fined the marketers of four weight loss pills $25 million for making false advertising claims ranging from rapid weight loss to reducing the risk of cancer.

FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras said the products would remain on store shelves, but that the companies would have to stop making the false claims.

“What we challenge is the marketing of the claims,” she said. “The marketers are required to back up the claims with the science and if they can’t do that they can’t make the claim. But we don’t ban the products from the shelves.”

...Fines were levied against marketers of Xenadrine EFX, One A Day Weight Smart, CortiSlim and TrimSpa.

“Testimonials from individuals are not a substitute for science,” Majoras said. “And that’s what Americans need to understand.”

Diet pills, when they do work (weight loss), they usually contain stimulants that artificially raise the metabolism. (The common ingredient in these pills used to be ephedra or ephedrine but now it's synephrine after an FDA ban of ephedra herbal products) The body adapts and one builds up a dependence on the pill. Since the pill kept the metabolism artificially high, ceasing to take the pill means the metabolism immediately slows to its regular basal rate. Then the weight comes right back. This is distressing enough to warrant buying more of the pills. So, "weight loss" becomes a subscription to their product (when the pills actually do work).