Among the people who took Hydroxycut supplements are bodybuilders, who hoped to use the supplement to help obtain and maintain a chiseled look. Now, Melissa faces a future liver transplant and wonders if she suffers from Hydroxycut liver damage.
My plans were to advance as far as being a fitness model. I had seen ads for Hydroxycut in all the various bodybuilding magazines that I subscribed to. I starting using Hydroxycut and I liked the results. Then, as time went by, my physicians at check ups would make comments about my liver enzymes being a little high. It finally alarmed one doctor so much in 2005 I had gone to my rheumatologist, he had done a blood test and he said ‘I am very concerned about your liver enzymes. I am sending you to a liver specialist because these numbers are way too high. The liver specialist did a biopsy on my liver and told me that I have cirrhotic liver [essentially, liver cirrhosis] that was not caused by alcohol, hepatitis, or drug abuse. They ruled those factors out in testing.
I thought of how many bottles of that stuff I downed over the years. Because of the liver problems, now I’ve got this foggy brain that is not processing things right. The Fibromyalgia I can’t help but wonder if that was part of the liver problems and it hadn’t reared its ugly head yet.
Find a lawyer to handle your Hydroxycut legal claim
A class action lawsuit has been filed against the maker of Hydroxycut supplements following the Hydroxycut recall. The lawsuit alleges that the dietary supplements are linked to Hydroxycut liver damage. Meanwhile, as the news about the Hydroxycut side effects spreads, more people report that they believe they were affected by the supplements.
One story, reported by the Los Angeles Times, recounts the experiences of Robert Tropea, a soldier who took Hydroxycut for 3 months in 2007. Tropea says he suffered mysterious ailments after taking Hydroxycut, but did not realize that his problems could be linked to the dietary supplements. According to the article, in July 2007, Tropea experienced extreme muscle ache following a physical training session and noticed that his urine was black. Tropea says in the article he believed dietary supplements are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or some other governmental organization, so he thought Hydroxycut was safe to take. The truth is that dietary supplements are not necessarily harmless.
Furthermore, Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), the onus is on the supplement’s manufacturer to ensure that it is safe for consumers to take. The company is meant to rely on evidence in ensuring the supplement is safe, but does not have to provide evidence to the FDA unless the supplement in question contains an “entirely new dietary ingredient.”
Dietary supplements like Hydroxycut are not subjected to FDA approval or denial because they contain only dietary ingredients such as minerals, vitamins and herbal extracts and they do not claim to treat diseases. In such cases, the FDA can only take action against a dietary supplement when regulators have adequate evidence to prove that it poses a serious risk to consumers. Then the FDA can ban the supplement’s sale but by that point people may have already been harmed by the supplement.
In the case of Hydroxycut, the recall was announced after the FDA linked the product to 23 known cases of liver damage which included 1 death 46 reports of cardiovascular events and 4 reports of seizures. While that number may seem small relative to the number of people who use Hydroxycut, consider that there are likely more people out there like Tropea, who may have suffered an adverse reaction but did not know it could be linked to Hydroxycut.
Tropea is reportedly part of a group of plaintiffs in a planned lawsuit against Iovate Health Sciences Inc., maker of Hydroxycut. The lawsuits allege that Iovate failed to warn the public about the dangers of Hydroxycut and/or did not take proper precautions to protect consumers.
The Tennessee lawsuit was filed on May 20 in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on behalf of anyone who purchased a Hydroxycut product. The lawsuit alleges negligence, breach of warranties, fraud and failure to warn.
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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.
Health Canada has released a statement noting that it received 17 reports of adverse reactions from Canadians using Hydroxycut. 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. 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. 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. The FDA notes that some supplements have been recalled “because of proven or potential harmful effects.” 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.
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