two anti-obesity drugs are to be withdrawn from worldwide sale amid growing evidence that they may caused heart abnormalities. The us Food and Drug Administration has said that there is "new evidence about significant side-effects'. This will mean that appetite suppressants, Adifax and Ponderax, will no longer be available in the uk . The annual worldwide sales run into hundreds of millions of pound sterling. Research at the Mayo Clinic published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed a much higher than expected percentage of abnormal heart valve reading among patients taking the drugs. Researchers reviewed the records of 291 patients and found that 30 per cent had heart malfunctions without showing any symptoms. Ninety-two patients had problems with their aortic or mitral heart valves.