Hydroxycut Recall Leads to Lawsuit

Baltimore, MDThe makers of Hydroxycut could find themselves in court following the announcement of the Hydroxycut recall. Consumers, upset about being put at risk of experiencing serious Hydroxycut side effects, including liver injury, are now contacting lawyers to explore their options regarding a Hydroxycut lawsuit. At least 1 lawsuit has been filed in Canada, alleging consumers were not properly warned about the risks associated with Hydroxycut.

"On May 1, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advised consumers to stop using a variety of Hydroxycut products, citing 23 reports of health problems including 1 death and several cases of liver injury. The death involved a teenage boy, while at least 1 of the liver injuries resulted in a liver transplant and another resulted in the person being placed on the liver transplant waitlist.

Iovate Health Sciences, maker of Hydroxycut products has said that its own studies show Hydroxycut is both safe and effective. As a precaution, however, the company did recall 14 Hydroxycut products. Hydroxycut was marketed as a natural supplement that burns fat, reduces weight and boosts energy.

In the wake of the recall, a class action lawsuit was filed in Canada, alleging that Iovate failed to provide proper warnings about the risks associated with the product and misled consumers about the safety of the weight loss supplement. Health Canada has released a statement noting that it received 17 reports of adverse reactions from Canadians using Hydroxycut. Those problems include respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological functions. So far, Health Canada has not received reports of liver injury.

The Canadian lawsuit reportedly seeks general damages of $20 million for people who purchased Hydroxycut for personal use after May 1, 2003. Iovate Health Sciences Inc. and MuscleTech Research and Development Inc. are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Lawsuits will likely be filed in the US in the coming weeks.

The FDA does not regulate the sale of supplements, which means that it sometimes falls to class action lawsuits to stop the sale of dangerous supplements. Prescription drugs are tested and have to be approved by the FDA before they are sold—supplements are not required to be tested and may not come to the attention of the FDA until injuries or deaths occur.

According to the FDA, "Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), the dietary supplement manufacturer is responsible for ensuring that a dietary supplement is safe before it is marketed. FDA is responsible for taking action against any unsafe dietary supplement product after it reaches the product."

Dietary supplements are products taken by mouth that include dietary ingredients, such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, botanicals and amino acids. Although people may believe dietary supplements are safe because they are natural, the truth is that they can still have biological effects and cause adverse reactions in people taking them. The FDA notes that some supplements have been recalled "because of proven or potential harmful effects." Recalls have been announced because of contamination of a supplement, ingredients listed on the label that are not in the product or an ingredient appearing in more or less than the amount listed on the label.

Of course, before reports of injury can be made, people have to link the injury to the supplement they are taking—which does not always happen quickly. Consumers may have suffered side effects from taking Hydroxycut and not realized that those effects could be related to the supplement. Although the FDA has 23 reports of injury linked to Hydroxycut, there could be many more out there.

Symptoms of liver injury include jaundice, brown urine, nausea, vomiting, itching stomach pain and loss of appetite.

If you used Hydroxycut and experienced any of those symptoms, you may have experienced a negative reaction to the supplement.