Lipokinetix

FDA warning:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers to immediately stop use of the product Lipokinetix®, marketed as a dietary supplement by Syntrax Innovations, Inc. The FDA has received multiple reports of persons who have developed liver injury or liver failure while using Lipokinetix. Evaluation of the reports show that Lipokinetix may cause acute hepatitis when used under the conditions of use recommended on the label. Jaundice and elevated liver enzymes have been reported. It has been alleged that a liver transplant and a death have resulted from the use of Lipokinetix. Symptoms of acute hepatitis have also appeared a few weeks after the patient stopped using Lipokinetix.

Lipokinetix was recently marketed for weight loss. Lipokinetix, widely sold on Internet bodybuilding and weight loss sites, is believed to contain a drug banned a year ago, a potent thyroid hormone, and a chemical once tested as a topical therapy for genital warts that FDA has not approved for internal use.) It contains the ingredients norephedrine (also known as phenylpropanolamine or PPA), caffeine, yohimbine, diiodothyronine, and sodium usniate. The injuries reported to FDA occurred in persons between 20 and 32 years of age. No apparent cause of liver injury was identified in these reports other than use of Lipokinetix. Liver injury developed between 2 weeks and 3 months of Lipokinetix use. 

The FDA urges consumers to consult their physician if they are experiencing symptoms possibly associated with the use of Lipokinetix, particularly nausea, weakness or fatigue, abdominal pain, or any change in skin color. 


Acute hepatitis and liver failure

Hepatitis simply means inflammation of the liver. Acute hepatitis can begin suddenly or gradually, but it has a limited course and rarely lasts beyond one or two months. Usually there is only spotty liver cell damage and evidence of immune system activity, but on occasion, acute hepatitis can cause severe, even life-threatening, liver damage.

The liver is an important organ, so important that it is impossible to live without one. When too few liver cells are working to perform all of the liver's important functions, liver failure is the result. Liver failure comes in varying degrees of severity, but generally speaking, people suffering from liver failure usually have a poor prognosis for recovery). 

Symptoms of Acute Hepatitis

In general, symptoms of acute hepatitis may begin suddenly or develop gradually. They may be so mild that patients mistake the disease for the flu. Symptoms may include the following: 

• Fatigue and mild fever. 

• Gastrointestinal problems are very common, including nausea and vomiting and a general feeling of discomfort in the abdomen or a sharper pain that may occur in the upper right area if the abdomen. This pain tends to increase during jerking movements, such as climbing stairs or riding on a bumpy road.

• GI problems can lead to loss of appetite, weight loss, and dehydration.

• After about two weeks, dark urine and jaundice (a yellowish color in the skin and whites of the eyes) may develop.

• Light colored stools, muscle pain, drowsiness, irritability, and itching. 

• Diarrhea and joint aches. 

• The liver may be tender and enlarged. 
  
  Within two months of onset of acute hepatitis, it is possible that liver failure could occur. Symptoms may include the following: 
  
  

• A large swollen abdomen (known as ascites) 

• This may be followed by stomach and intestinal bleeding and mental confusion, stupor, or coma caused by brain injury (encephalopathy).
  

How serious is hepatitis?

General Prognosis 

In many cases of acute hepatitis, when medical attention is sought promptly, recovery is complete and the liver returns to normal within two to eight weeks. In some cases, hepatitis can be prolonged and recovery may not occur for at least a year. In the rare event that the liver failure occurs, further complications such as gastrointestinal hemorrhage and brain damage may result leading to mental confusion, or even coma. Accordingly, it is important to seek medical attention at the first sign of symptoms.

Patient’s legal rights

If you or a family member have suffered a serious liver injury after ingesting the dietary supplement Lipokinetix®, you may be eligible to file a claim against its manufacturer. An attorney at the law firm of Mulligan & Banham is available to discuss your legal rights at no cost or obligation. To consult with an attorney call 619.238.8700.

Statute of Limitations

In order to preserve any potential legal claims for allegedly dangerous and/or defective medical products an attorney should be contacted promptly. All states have mandatory time periods ("statute of limitations") in which lawsuits must be filed. If a claim is not filed within this time period the claim may be permanently barred. In some states, the statute of limitations period for filing personal injury claims is only one year from the date of injury.