Researchers find dangerous, FDA-rejected drug in supplements—by reading labels

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Several supposed brain-enhancing supplements sold in the US contain a questionable drug that has been rejected by the Food and Drug Administration, according to a new analysis published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Researchers led by Harvard’s Pieter Cohen identified four dietary supplement makers illegally selling the drug, piracetam, in their products. The researchers were clued into the presence of the unapproved drug by simply reading the products’ labels. Two of the supplement makers brazenly called their brain pills “piracetam” outright.

In a twist, researchers found that a fifth supplement maker named their product after the unapproved drug but didn’t actually include any piracetam in the product.

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