FDA questioning safety of diet drug Meridia

The government is considering pulling Abbott Laboratories' diet pill Meridia off the market, based on data that it increases heart attack and stroke.

The Food and Drug Administration has posted its safety review of Meridia online, ahead of a meeting in which outside experts will weigh in on the drug's risks.

The FDA will ask its experts to consider a range of actions for restricting Meridia, including pulling the drug from the market.

Meridia has been on the market since 1997, but data released late last year showed patients taking the drug had more than an 11-percent risk of heart attack and stroke compared with 10 percent for those taking a placebo. European regulators pulled the product off the market in January.