A ministerial committee in a review of the drug reductil has recommended a ban on the sale of the weight loss drug. The committee sighted health risks as the major reason behind the withdrawal of the drug.

The committee that has recommended revoking the distribution of reductil is the Medicines Adverse Reactions Committee. Reductil was brought under the scanner by the MARC, after the preliminary results of a study found the weight-loss drug to risk the well being of consumers.

The Principal Clinical Advisor for Medsafe, Dr. Enver Yousuf, while talking about the development stated that the review panel had found that in comparison to the benefits of the drug, the health risks were far too many.

In the study that had influenced the review, it was found that the patients under medication from reductil were at an increased risk of cardiac arrests and strokes. The study had been name Sibutramine Cardiovascular Outcomes trial also known as SCOUT.

Prior to the study, the usage of the drug had already been warned by medical practitioners across New Zealand. Dr. Yousuf has also announced that doctors in any scenario should avoid prescribing Reductil to their patients.

The Company of Reductil has voluntarily decided to withdraw the medicine following the recommendations.