Bros,
The article from USA today on January 6th pasted below proves it: It's getting worse and worse: Now that Ephedra / Ephedrine is about to be banned permanently thanks to sloppy usage by former baseball pitchers and a few people who should NOT be taking the supplement (read the LABELS, and you wont die, bleed, cough or choke), there is a rally cry to regulate (read BAN) ALL SUPPLEMENTS that studies prove to be safe.
This article makes one thing clear: The vendetta is not against Ephedra. It is against the so-called "Supplement Industry".
So remember, although aspirin has caused 10's of thousands of deaths over the same decade that 155 (yes - ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE, not ONE-HUNDRED THOUSAND...) fatalities resulted from ephedrine mis-use, aspirin is still on the shelves, ready to burst a hole in your stomach.
Ephedra is the cheapest, most effective supplement for fat loss... but the government would have you pay $5 a pill for phentermine, meridia, and other drugs that are more toxic to not only your stomach, but your brain and liver.
-HL
Note: It would figure that a spinless writer hiding under the banner of an op-ed piece would choose to write this without revealing himself. Any bets this guy has failed at lifting weights and now has a problem giving up his doughnuts and fried chicken?
Law lets risky stimulants take ephedra's place
OP / ED (No Author) - USA TODAY - January 6th, 2004
As the federal government inches toward an overdue ban on the deadly diet supplement ephedra, supplement makers and consumers are rushing to risky substitutes.
And the government can't stop them.
On Dec. 27, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it soon will issue a ban on ephedra to take effect 60 days later. The action comes nearly a decade - and 155 deaths - after medical experts began noticing a surge in troubling reports about the amphetamine-like stimulant, which was being peddled to athletes and dieters.
Yet the ban fails to correct a regulatory system that assumes dietary supplements are safe until proved harmful. That standard is more lenient than those for prescription and over-the-counter drugs, which must be shown to be safe before they can be sold.
In ephedra's case, the system led to untold numbers of heart attacks and strokes as well as deaths, among them Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler last year.
But ephedra is just the most notorious of the unproven supplements readily available in stores, online and by mail. Now that ephedra is being banned, marketers are pushing "ephedra-free" stimulants based on herbs such as bitter orange, green tea, grape-seed extract and guarana. Industry officials say that in anticipation of a ban, consumers already have been shifting to substitutes.
Their search for safety may be illusory. Consider bitter orange. Research at the University of Arkansas suggests it reacts with many prescription drugs to undermine their effectiveness. Other studies have shown that bitter orange raises blood pressure in animals, suggesting it could carry some of the same risks as ephedra for humans.
Even less is known about the potential effects of most other ephedra substitutes.
The FDA publishes a list of commonly available supplements that are known to have caused nausea, vomiting, liver and kidney disease, high and low blood pressure, paralysis and death. Still, little reliable scientific research on these substances exists, and the industry's clout in Congress has blocked the FDA from banning a substance unless the agency is prepared to prove in court that it poses "an unreasonable health risk."
Even with ephedra's tragic record, the government didn't test that hurdle until now. Thousands of reports of illness and death linked to ephedra prompted the FDA to commission outside studies that it believes provide the evidence needed to withstand a legal challenge from the industry.
Other supplements associated with health risks are still getting a free pass. The FDA doesn't even have the authority to require their manufacturers to turn over any reports they receive about consumers who are harmed by the products.
While Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson wants Congress to require that manufacturers report customers' adverse reactions, he has not made passage of such legislation a priority.
The industry says the current law and self-regulation are adequate. Yet, it has fought efforts to improve safety. When the FDA tried to tighten supplement regulation in 1994, the industry persuaded Congress to strip the agency of the little authority it had.
Ephedra is finally on its way out. But until the industry and its allies in Congress make consumer protection a higher priority, too many other potentially dangerous supplements remain on store shelves.
The article from USA today on January 6th pasted below proves it: It's getting worse and worse: Now that Ephedra / Ephedrine is about to be banned permanently thanks to sloppy usage by former baseball pitchers and a few people who should NOT be taking the supplement (read the LABELS, and you wont die, bleed, cough or choke), there is a rally cry to regulate (read BAN) ALL SUPPLEMENTS that studies prove to be safe.
This article makes one thing clear: The vendetta is not against Ephedra. It is against the so-called "Supplement Industry".
So remember, although aspirin has caused 10's of thousands of deaths over the same decade that 155 (yes - ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE, not ONE-HUNDRED THOUSAND...) fatalities resulted from ephedrine mis-use, aspirin is still on the shelves, ready to burst a hole in your stomach.
Ephedra is the cheapest, most effective supplement for fat loss... but the government would have you pay $5 a pill for phentermine, meridia, and other drugs that are more toxic to not only your stomach, but your brain and liver.
-HL
Note: It would figure that a spinless writer hiding under the banner of an op-ed piece would choose to write this without revealing himself. Any bets this guy has failed at lifting weights and now has a problem giving up his doughnuts and fried chicken?
Law lets risky stimulants take ephedra's place
OP / ED (No Author) - USA TODAY - January 6th, 2004
As the federal government inches toward an overdue ban on the deadly diet supplement ephedra, supplement makers and consumers are rushing to risky substitutes.
And the government can't stop them.
On Dec. 27, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it soon will issue a ban on ephedra to take effect 60 days later. The action comes nearly a decade - and 155 deaths - after medical experts began noticing a surge in troubling reports about the amphetamine-like stimulant, which was being peddled to athletes and dieters.
Yet the ban fails to correct a regulatory system that assumes dietary supplements are safe until proved harmful. That standard is more lenient than those for prescription and over-the-counter drugs, which must be shown to be safe before they can be sold.
In ephedra's case, the system led to untold numbers of heart attacks and strokes as well as deaths, among them Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler last year.
But ephedra is just the most notorious of the unproven supplements readily available in stores, online and by mail. Now that ephedra is being banned, marketers are pushing "ephedra-free" stimulants based on herbs such as bitter orange, green tea, grape-seed extract and guarana. Industry officials say that in anticipation of a ban, consumers already have been shifting to substitutes.
Their search for safety may be illusory. Consider bitter orange. Research at the University of Arkansas suggests it reacts with many prescription drugs to undermine their effectiveness. Other studies have shown that bitter orange raises blood pressure in animals, suggesting it could carry some of the same risks as ephedra for humans.
Even less is known about the potential effects of most other ephedra substitutes.
The FDA publishes a list of commonly available supplements that are known to have caused nausea, vomiting, liver and kidney disease, high and low blood pressure, paralysis and death. Still, little reliable scientific research on these substances exists, and the industry's clout in Congress has blocked the FDA from banning a substance unless the agency is prepared to prove in court that it poses "an unreasonable health risk."
Even with ephedra's tragic record, the government didn't test that hurdle until now. Thousands of reports of illness and death linked to ephedra prompted the FDA to commission outside studies that it believes provide the evidence needed to withstand a legal challenge from the industry.
Other supplements associated with health risks are still getting a free pass. The FDA doesn't even have the authority to require their manufacturers to turn over any reports they receive about consumers who are harmed by the products.
While Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson wants Congress to require that manufacturers report customers' adverse reactions, he has not made passage of such legislation a priority.
The industry says the current law and self-regulation are adequate. Yet, it has fought efforts to improve safety. When the FDA tried to tighten supplement regulation in 1994, the industry persuaded Congress to strip the agency of the little authority it had.
Ephedra is finally on its way out. But until the industry and its allies in Congress make consumer protection a higher priority, too many other potentially dangerous supplements remain on store shelves.
