The continuing issues with OxyElite Pro have been reported in yet another area. This time, a San Diego, California woman has reportedly suffered from liver failure after taking the weight lost/body building supplement. Until now most of the injury reports tied to OxyElite Pro had originated in Hawaii.
OxyElite Pro has been recalled by USPlabs Labs and has been removed from store shelves, according to NBC San Diego.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that the recall followed an agency letter stating OxyElite Pro products were tied to liver illnesses and that there existed a reasonable likelihood that the supplements are adulterated. The FDA also wrote that if USPlabs did not implement a voluntary recall, the agency could mandate the supplement maker to stop distributing the product and could also advise other parties to stop distributing the supplements, as well.
The November 6th FDA letter detailed findings involving an association between use of the recalled OxyElite Pro supplements and liver illnesses reported in Hawaii, and that other liver damage cases had been reported following ingestion of the recalled OxyElite Pro products in other states. A review of 46 medical records that had been submitted to the FDA by the Hawaii Department of Health revealed that 27 patients (58 percent) had taken a dietary supplement labeled as OxyElite Pro prior to falling ill. Of these, 27 patients (63 percent) reported that OxyElite Pro was the only dietary supplement they had taken.
Meanwhile, the Irish Health Chiefs (similar to the Surgeon General in the U.S.) just issued an alert over OxyElite Pro and Versa supplements and announced that the products are to be pulled from store shelves in that country, the Independent.ie reported. The Irish Medicines Board (IMB) and the Food Safety Authority Ireland (FSAI) said the involved products are OxyElite Pro Super Thermo capsules, OxyElite Pro Ultra-Intense Thermo capsules, OxyElite Pro Super Thermo powder, and Versa-1.
In Ireland, The OxyElite and Versa-1 products have been associated with one case of liver injury, according to the Independent.ie.
In the U.S. the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency just issued a warning. To date, according to NBC San Diego, more than 50 people have reported liver problems, including acute hepatitis and liver failure, after taking OxyElite Pro.
“We don’t really know what component in the product is responsible for the liver failure. There have been 56 cases reported to the CDC. There has been one death and two people have needed a liver transplant,” Dr. Eric McDonald, San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency’s Deputy Public Health Officer, told NBC San Diego.
We previously wrote that some people remain on the transplant waiting list for a liver.
“Young people getting liver failure but not having an infectious disease and no apparent reason. When they looked at what they had done, they realized a significant number of them had used this product,” said Dr. McDonald, according to NBC San Diego. Dr. McDonald said the 45-year old San Diego woman suffered acute liver failure after taking Oxy Elite Pro for weight loss, according to NBC San Diego.
An October statement sent to the NBC Station in Dallas, Texas from USPlabs’ spokesperson Michael Petruzzello, indicated “The cluster of liver issues in Hawaii is a complete mystery and nothing like this has ever been associated with OxyELITE Pro in all of the years our products have been in the market. We know of no credible evidence linking OxyELITE Pro to liver issues.”
