Medical Board Backs Ban on ‘Fen-Phen’

Florida became the only state with a current ban on the “fen-phen” diet-pill combination, heeding studies that linked the mixture to rare heart-valve defects. An emergency ban unanimously adopted by the state Board of Medicine will be in effect until the state draws up strict rules for use of the drugs. Under the ban, the drug combination cannot be prescribed or administered to new patients, and current patients must be off the drugs within 30 days. In July, the Food and Drug Administration cautioned physicians that Mayo Clinic studies linked the combination of fenfluramine and phentermine to rare heart-valve defects. The valve damage was found in 80 fen-phen patients.