A new study has found that even though the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) recalled a potentially dangerous weight loss supplement in 2009, the diet pill is being taken by large populations of women who are not even aware of its possible health hazards. According to Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance, the Chinese health supplement Pai You Guo is taken by up to 25 percent of Brazilian immigrants in the Boston area – none of which had heard that the pills contained banned and dangerous drugs that have been linked to heart attacks and stroke. Over sixty percent of the women reported side effects from taking the drugs.

Perhaps the most shocking part of this study is that it is a common story in the world of defective and dangerous drugs. In fact, just in the last six years, the FDA has found and recalled over 300 different diet supplements that contain dangerous and illegal substances and pharmaceuticals. While the FDA has the power to regulate supplements like diet pills, these products are not treated like prescription drugs, which undergo scrutiny before they are placed on the market. Supplements can only be regulated after they appear on shelves and are found to be hazardous.

Because of the way that dietary supplement regulations work, many manufacturers of the products often don’t produce pills that contain what the label claims – or they don’t even list ingredients on the bottle at all. While consumers falsely believe that the pills they are taking must be safe, many may have never been analyzed for their content.

In the end, most researchers agree that change must happen: either the FDA need to have more power when it comes to dietary supplement regulations, or there needs to be a nation-wide consumer education campaign in which the public learns that just because pills are being sold at a store does not mean that they are safe.

Have you or a loved one suffered harm due to a dietary supplement in Indiana? Speak with an experienced defective drug attorney today.