Meridia Information Resource
UPDATE:
Meridia has now been withdrawn from sale in the EU due to concern that it could lead to an increased risk of developing heart problems.
Welcome to the Meridia information web site. If you are trying to lose weight, then you might have heard about Meridia, a diet pill manufactured by the pharmaceutical company Abbott Laboratories. Meridia is a slimming pill that can be prescribed to you if you have a Body Mass Index, or BMI, greater than 30, or you have a BMI greater than 27 together with other risk factors such as elevated levels of cholesterol or type II diabetes (but NOT high blood pressure).
This site has been designed to inform you about Meridia, and help you decide whether treatment with Meridia may be appropriate for you. However, it is also important that you discuss with your physician whether Meridia is an appropriate treatment for your obesity.
Meridia in the UK and EU
Before it was withdrawn, Meridia was approved by the EMEA for use within the EU and was also approved by NICE (the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) for prescription to suitable patients on the NHS on October 17th, 2001.
Note that Meridia can increase blood pressure and is not suitable for patients with already elevated blood pressure.
Meridia in the US
Meridia was approved by the FDA in the US for use as a weight loss drug on November 24th, 1997, a few months after the weight loss pill Fenfluramine was banned because of a link with damage to heart valves. Meridia and Fenfluramine work in a similar way, by making serotonin (a neurotransmitter) more available in the blood stream. However, whilst Fenfluramine creates this effect in the entire blood stream, Meridia only increases available serotonin in the brain. For this reason, Meridia is thought to be safer as its action is localised and not systemic.