HSA warns potent substance found in dietary supplement

Anyone taking this dietary supplement? If you did, please take note.

A dietary supplement sold over the Internet has been found to be adulterated with an undeclared potent substance that can cause severe adverse reactions. The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said it has detected 'Sibutramine' in the product marketed as and claiming to be 'Relacore'.

Sibutramine, the undeclared Western drug ingredient, can cause severe adverse reactions, including symptoms of psychosis, hallucinations, confusion, anxiety, increases in blood pressure and heart rate.

As a Western drug ingredient, Sibutramine is a prescription drug used as an appetite suppressant in the management of obesity. It should only be used under proper medical supervision. Patients with heart problems, in particular should not take the product.

The HSA also said two persons had suffered symptoms of psychosis such as hearing of voices, hallucinations, confusion and thyrotoxic symptoms such as anxiety and increased heart rate after using the product. The patients, who had already been discharged from the hospital, were a man and a woman in their early 20s. The patients said they had bought the product over the Internet.

The particular product consumed by the two patients is promoted and sold over the Internet as a 'dietary supplement' which contains a 'stress mitigating compound' for 'belly fat and stress control'. It is noted that the packaging of this particular product consumed by the patients does not match fully with that of the same named product ('Relacore') that is sold over some Internet sites. HSA is establishing if this particular product consumed by the two patients could in fact be a counterfeit version of the product 'Relacore'.

HSA urges the public not to use that particular product.