While there has been a trend recently n the United States to manufacture natural diet aids and pills such as Solo Slim, the 1960s and 70s saw a wide use of amphetamine derivatives for diet pills. Doctors soon realized that these diet pills were addictive in nature and some stopped prescribing them.

While ads for diet pills were almost non-existent in the 40s and 50s, the 1960s saw a wide range of advertisements for diet pills and aids. Diet pill scandals are not just recent phenomenon, in September 1967, Dr. Russell Henry, Oregon’s chief medical examiner, accused diet pills of killing six Oregon women. These women had taken six different pills to help them lose weight including an amphetamine, a laxative, a thyroid hormone and digitalis, a heart stimulant. The combination of the drugs were dangerous. Dr. Henry’s investigation led to tighter controls on the prescription of diet pills.

In 1968, reporter Susanna McBee traveled the country and found that of the ten doctors that she visited, not one refused to prescribe diet pills for her. She weighed, at best, 130 pounds and was five foot, five inches tall. Her report led to an investigation by the US Judiciary Committee of the US Senate.

The following years saw many other diet pills scandals, and the FDA is constantly trying to test diet pills and assure their safety.