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EPHEDRA BANNED AND CASES COORDINATED In April, 2003, the selling and manufacturing of ephedra became illegal, as a federal judge denied a challenge to delay the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's ban of the popular but deadly nutritional supplement. On April 13, 2004, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ordered numerous ephedra cases throughout the United States subject to MDL jurisdiction to U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The federal
government announced a proposed ban of ephedra supplements in December 2003 because of the "unreasonable risk of illness
or injury" associated with such products.The FDA had also
issued a consumer alert warning consumers to take stop buying
and immediately stop using ephedra products.
The announcement sent many ephedra
users on a rush to stock up on ephedra products before the
ban went into effect, creating concern
that ephedra use and ephedra related illnesses may continue
long after the ban goes into effect.
Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy G. Thompson, stated that ephedra products
"pose unacceptable health risks, and any consumers who are still using them should stop immediately."
The ephedra ban does not affect decongestants and other medicines containing ephedrine, a synthetic version of ephedra. Drugs containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are regulated and approved by the FDA and are safe.
Ephedra, also called ephedrine or ma huang,
is an herbal stimulant found in health foods, dietary supplements,
and other products.
Popular ephedra based products include:
- Metabolife
- Metab-o-Lite
- Metabolift
- Hydroxycut
- Herbalife
- Herbalite
- Herba Fuel
- Kranker
- Trim Spa
- Ripped Fuel
- Extreme Ripped Force
- Diet Fuel
- Xenadrine RFA-1
- GH Fuel
- Kwik Burn
- Diet Pep
- ThermiCare
- Dyma-Burn Xtreme
- Ultimate Orange
- Speed Stack
- Stacker 3
- ThermoPlex
- Thermogen
- Thermogenic Power
- NaturalTRIM
- Trim Spa
- Yellow Jacket
- Ma Huang
The FDA has received over 1000 adverse
reports regarding Ephedra including heart attack, seizure,
stokes, hemorrhage, high blood pressure, and rapid or irregular
heart rate. Ephedra or ephedrine products have been blamed
for over 100 deaths in the U.S, several involving athletes,
including the death of a Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler
in February, 2003.
In the last year, three leading manufacturers
of weight-loss pills have been hit with false-advertising
verdicts in the millions of dollars. Recently, the U.S. Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) sued a marketer of weight-loss products
containing Ephedra. Two companies that promoted Ephedra dietary
supplements with promises of safe and miraculous weight loss
have agreed to repay consumers $370,000 to resolve federal
charges of deceptive advertising. Other lawsuits have been
filed by states and individuals against ephedra product manufacturers.
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