Abstract

In an article on fenfluramine and other appetite depressants we stated that ‘dexamphetamine, amphetamine, phenmetrazine and diethylpropion are now notorious for their liability to cause dependence and even psychosis’ (DTB August 17, 1967, p. 65). Merrell-National, who manufacture diethylpropion, point out that only four cases of dependence or suspected dependence on this drug have become known to them, and that in none of these cases was diethylpropion the first drug on which the patient became dependent. This suggests that diethylpropion is less liable to cause dependence than the other drugs we mentioned. It is however difficult to measure the dependence liability of drugs, and diethylpropion should still be prescribed with the caution recommended by the manufacturers.