Nutri/System Weight Loss Centers has discontinued the use of fen-phen in response to reports that the drug causes damage to heart valves and increases blood pressure. Nutri/System has replaced fen-phen with an alternative drug combination called phen-pro, a mixture of phentermine and Prozac, an anti-depressant.
Nutri/System claims that the new drug is effective and safer than fen-phen. Others, like Dr. Lewis J. Rubin, head of pulmonary medicine at the University of Maryland Medical School, claim that phen-pro has not yet been proven safe. “Let’s not embrace the next [drug] that comes down the pike until it’s proven safe and effective.”
