Coroner: Ephedra was in athlete's stomach--unabsorbed.

[Guest guest]

Congress Hears Ephedra Complaints

 

WASHINGTON, July 23, 2003

 

Ephedra was thrust into the spotlight in February following the

death of Baltimore Orioles minor league pitcher Steve Bechler, who

had taken a dietary supplement containing ephedra.

 

 

 

(AP) Many people who followed guidelines for using the herbal

stimulant ephedra still reported health problems, congressional

investigators found.

 

In addition, many complaints came from users under 30, the General

Accounting Office said in testimony prepared for Wednesday's hearing

on dietary supplements before the House Energy and Commerce

oversight subcommittee.

 

Marcia Crosse, the GAO's acting director of health care-public

health and science issues, said the reports of health problems made

to drug-maker Metabolife International included heart attacks,

strokes and seizures. Five deaths also were reported.

 

Crosse also noted the Food and Drug Administration has received more

reports of problems from taking supplements with ephedra than any

other ingredient.

 

Crosse said the problems reported to Metabolite " are consistent with

the types of adverse events reported to FDA and with the documented

physiological effects of ephedra. " In addition, she said, the

records of calls to Metabolite " contain reports of serious adverse

effects in consumers who were young and among those who used the

product within the recommended guidelines. "

 

She said the average age of those who included an age when they

called was 38, and ranged from 17 to 65. More than one-third were

under 30.

 

In a statement submitted to the subcommittee, Metabolite said the

company

 

" strongly believes in the science supporting the safety and efficacy

of dietary supplements that contain ephedra when *used as

directed*. "

 

The House subcommittee is holding two days of hearings on ephedra,

which was thrust into the spotlight in February following the death

of Baltimore Orioles minor league pitcher Steve Bechler, who had

taken a dietary supplement containing ephedra.

 

Congress in 1994 severely limited federal oversight of dietary

supplements.

 

" Based on all the evidence we have seen, the industry has not

adequately addressed the safety of ephedra-based diet products, "

said Ken Johnson, a spokesman for House Energy and Commerce

Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin, R-La.

 

The FDA is sifting through 16,000 comments responding to its March

proposal to order warning labels on bottles of ephedra. The FDA has

not tried to ban the product, despite reports of more than 100

deaths being linked to the herb, citing the 1994 law.

 

In May, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed the nation's first

statewide ban on ephedra.

 

Kiley Bechler, the pitcher's widow, filed suit in federal court last

week against the manufacturer and distributor of the supplement

containing ephedra that was found in her husband's locker. The

lawsuit names Cytodyne Technologies and its president, Robert

Chinery, who also is on the House committee's witness list.

 

Medical Examiner Joshua Perper in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where

Bechler died, said ephedra in the weight-loss supplement Xenadrine

RFA-1 contributed to the heatstroke that killed the pitcher.

Toxicology tests confirmed that " significant amounts " of the over-

the-counter supplement and other factors led to the attack.

 

 

 

Cytodyne officials released a letter to the House committee from

forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, former New York City chief

medical examiner, who says that ephedra didn't cause Bechler's death.

 

 

 

" At the time Mr. Bechler collapsed from heat stroke,

 

much of the ephedrine he had swallowed was still in his stomach and

had not yet entered his bloodstream, " Baden wrote.

 

The unabsorbed ephedrine " could not have caused or contributed to

Mr. Bechler's death. "