Following a hospitalization of a young woman, a weight loss product was found to contain banned substance Sibutramine which was not allowed to be sold in the market. The Vietnam Food Safety Authority under the Ministry of Health today announced the analysis results of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine that Detox Apple supplement for weight loss contains banned substances.
Accordingly, through searching, the food watchdog has not yet issued a product declaration registration receipt for the Detox Apple product. Therefore, the food authority recommended that consumers do not buy and use the above-mentioned Detox Apple weight loss product.
The authority advised that anyone who discovers the product on the market should immediately notify the authorities who will impose punishment according to the present law.
Recently, the Bach Mai Hospital’s Poison Control Center received a 26 year old female patient who was poisoned because she took weight loss supplement. She was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment. According to the patient, because she wanted to lose weight, she bought Detox Apple weight loss product on the internet. This young girl took tablets for 10 days and had ligament pain, her eyes suddenly couldn't see anything.
According to Doctor Nguyen Trung Nguyen, Director of the Poison Control Center, this female patient has only used the weight loss product for about 10 days and has clearly shown signs of neurological, eye, and brain damage; therefore, if she used the supplement for weight loss for a long time, she will face a risk of her life.
According to the Ministry of Health, Sibutramine is an active ingredient indicated in the treatment of obesity including weight loss and weight maintenance, but it is a substance that is dangerous to the cardiovascular system in people at high risk. Therefore, Sibutramine has been banned from circulation by the US Drug Administration since October 2010. In Vietnam, since June 2010, the Drug Administration of Vietnam has stopped licensing the import of Sibutramine and subsequently suspended circulation, withdrew registration numbers and recalled drugs containing the active ingredient Sibutramine due to unwanted effects.
