Diet supplement manufacturer USPLabs is stopping nationwide distribution of the diet pill OxyELITE Pro in lieu of a staggering number of liver failure cases associated with the supplement, Hawaii News Now reported.
The announcement comes shortly after the Hawaii Department of Health requested the “voluntary removal” of OxyELITE Pro from Hawaii retailers, and asked the public to stop any use of the diet supplement. Hawaii DOH linked OxyELITE Pro to 24 recent cases of liver damage across the state, including one death.
A total of twenty nine cases of liver failure and acute hepatitis have been reported in Hawaii in the last six months, all of them linked to dietary supplements. The Department of Health had been reluctant to pinpoint any specific supplement in the past, but now acknowledges that at least 24 of the patients reported using OxyELITE Pro before being hospitalized.
“No other supplement or medication has been identified in common among more than two patients,” Dr. Sarah Park, the state epidemiologist, said in a statement.
The FDA warned earlier this year against supplements containing dimethylamylamine (DMAA), including OxyELITE Pro, after it was linked to cases of serious illness and even deaths. However, OxyELITE Pro said in a statement that the "original version with DMAA has not been manufactured or distributed since early 2013."
OxyELITE Pro was sold all over the United States, but all of the known recent hospitalizations have occurred in Hawaii. However, health experts have not yet pinpointed the exact way the diet pills could have spurred these effects.
A 48-year-old mother of seven died last week after taking OxyELITE Pro, Hawaii News Now reported. According to her family, Sonnette Marras started taking the pills to lose weight but after just a short amount of time, felt severely ill. She was put into a medically induced coma and required a liver transplant, but was deemed ineligible after doctors discovered she had breast cancer.
USPLabs issued a statement regarding OxyELITE Pro regarding the cases:
Related
Before You Go
