General: Response to Continuing Education article, "The Skinny on Obesity," by Keturah R. Robinson, PharmD, BCPS

To the Editor:

We appreciate the continuing education article, "The Skinny on Obesity," published in the June 2009 America's Pharmacist. However, the article contains some misleading information about which your readers should be made aware. The first obesity treatment recommendation under the heading of "Dietary Supplements and Herbals" describes usage and dosage guidelines for ephedra and ephedrine alkaloids. In this section, the author failed to acknowledge that ephedra was banned by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the United States in April 2004. The FDA found dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids to pose "an unreasonable risk," whereby the risks outweigh any benefits for use of the product for weight loss or athletic performance enhancement.¹ read more...