Currently marketed as Reductil in Ireland, sibutramine is a prescription medicine used to assist weight loss in the treatment of obesity in adult patients or overweight patients with other risk factors such as type-2 diabetes or dyslipidaemia (abnormal levels of fat in the blood).

This suspension is based on a recommendation issued earlier today by the European Medicines Agency. The Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has concluded that the risks of these medicines are greater than their benefits and that the marketing authorisations should be suspended across the European Union (EU).

Please find attached a copy of a fax issued by the IMB to healthcare professionals. In addition, the IMB has issued a corresponding press release

Further information, including a Questions and Answers Document, is also available from the IMB www.imb.ie and EMA www.ema.europa.eu websites.