Not all appetite suppressants require a prescription. Hundreds of
products exist that claim to squelch hunger pangs. Do these products really work?
Unlike prescription drugs, over-the- counter supplements do not need FDA approval
and therefore do not have to prove that their products really work before they are sold.
If people find
that the claims are false once the prod- uct has been sold, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can intervene for false and misleading advertising. If the product is found to be dangerous, then the FDA can get involved and ban the product.
Purchasing
over-the-counter
appetite suppressants can be dangerous. The main danger is that people often take the new drug without consulting a doctor to learn about possible interactions with prescribed medications. Consumers might also erroneously follow the “more is better” motto and
take more pills than is recommended. Whereas a prescription refill
limit helps prevent such abuse, supplements can be purchased as frequently as the buyer wishes. Two of the most popular supplements are hoodia and 5-HTP, which can be purchased in health food stores and on the Internet. Many people are not concerned with the lack of regulation of these drugs that are
derived from plants and therefore “natural,” unlike prescrip- tion drugs, which are often synthetic. The distinction of a drug being natural because
it is derived from a plant is not neces- sarily valid. In fact, some of the most lethal compounds come from plants!
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