FDA issues warning on fake "miracle cures."

The Hill (3/5, Wilson, 21K) "Regwatch" blog reports that the Food and Drug Administration issued a Consumer Update, warning the public "to be on the lookout for fraudulent drugs promising a 'miracle cure' for weight loss or sexual performance." Over the past three years, the FDA said it has found "more than 100 illegally marketed weight-loss products containing sibutramine," which are being promoted through several forms of media, including websites, "newspapers, magazines and TV infomercials." In the Update, the FDA's National Health Fraud Coordinator, Gary Coody, who is also a registered pharmacist, explained that fraudulent products marketed online are "difficult to track" because when they're removed, they often reappear on new websites. Notably, the weight-loss treatment, Meridia, "which listed sibutramine as its active ingredient, was pulled from the market" in 2010, after "studies associated it with an uptick in heart attacks and strokes."