Bahaya Reductil

Reductil banned in Europe, but widely available “OTC” in Malaysia

Reductil is an anti-obesity drug which is a prescription only item which means you should not be able to purchase it OTC (or Over The Counter) in a pharmacy. It has potential for some serious side-effects and recent news is the drug is now Banned in Europe

One of the country’s most commonly prescribed anti-obesity drugs has been banned across Europe after it was blamed for increasing patients’ chances of suffering a heart attack or a stroke.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) ordered doctors across the continent to stop prescribing sibutramine and told pharmacists not to dispense the drug, which is marketed in the UK as Reductil.
The watchdog’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) acted after a study of 9,800 patients said the risks of sibutramine outweighed its minimal benefits.

Contrast this with the situation in Malaysia where the NST reports the drug is Easily available

REDUCTIL is a drug that can only be bought with a doctor’s prescription.
Nobody seems to have told pharmacists about this though. Checks by the New Straits Times yesterday revealed that the medicine, in its 10mg and 15mg form, could very easily be obtained over the counter.
The outlets that sold them included large chain stores as well as neighbourhood pharmacies. No questions were asked and no prescriptions were required when the product was sold.
The 10mg boxes went for RM130 and RM150 respectively at two pharmacies in Lucky Garden, Bangsar. A 15mg box, on the other hand, cost a princely RM225 at a pharmacy in Suria KLCC.
When asked about potential health risks, though, the pharmacists listed out dry mouth, constipation, insomnia and heart palpitations as possible side effects.
Health Ministry pharmaceutical services senior director Eisah Abdul Rahman was shocked when informed.
“This shouldn’t be happening. It’s a prescription medicine,” she said, adding that she would alert the ministry’s enforcement division.

I wonder how come Puan Eisah should be “shocked”. Is she not aware that abuse of presciption-only items by pharmacies in Malaysia is not an unknown phenomenon? For example, I had a patient declare to me she could buy Tamiflu on her own (without prescription) and stockpile for her and her family’s use “just in case” at the height of the H1N1 scare last year. I am sure many of you would be aware of similar flouting of the law, and one really wonders how widespread this is.
In Bolehland lack of enforcement is the order of the day, rather than strict enforcement.

http://medicine.com.my/wp/