Bush administration has decided to ban dietary supplement ephedra

[MaineDem]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2003/12/30/bush_administration_has_decided_to_ban_dietary_supplement_ephedra/

By John Solomon, Associated Press, 12/30/2003

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration has decided to ban the herbal weight-loss supplement ephedra from the marketplace because of concerns about its effects on health, government officials said Tuesday.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and Food and Drug Administration chief Mark McClellan were to announce the ban at a midday news conference, the officials said, speaking only on condition of anonymity.

The ban is likely to be met with litigation from manufacturers who dispute the agency's assertion that ephedra, which was blamed in the death of a professional baseball player earlier this year, is a health risk

- more-

[slackmaster]

1. These are the same Republicans who whine about a "nanny state"

At least that's what they do when Democrats try to protect people from themselves.

Party of Pots, meet Party of Kettles!

[KittyWampus]

2. Taking Medication AS PRESCRIBED Is The Fourth Leading Cause Of Death

and yet they ban ephedra?

This is about shutting down the herbal and alternative medicine industry. It is cutting into pharmacuetical profits.

Ephedra has been part of the herbal medicine chest for centuries. And they want to ban it because some fools abuse it?

Taking too much of ANYTHING to the point of abuse is potentially toxic and/or deadly. Especially if you have a pre-existing heart condition like that baseball player.

[rainydaywoman]

8. I agree w/u totally!

I've used Ephedra for years w/no problems. I will continue to grow my own. That will be next, a ban on growing ur own herbs!

[Malva Zebrina]

35. I agree

and that must be some powerful stuff if the pharmas are getting all in a tither about it. The Chinese used it forever. I think the herbal and supplement alternative medicine may need to band together here and define exactly what herbs will do and what the dosage is for safety. Sometimes, in this fast moving, no patience country, the safe limits or the old, tried and true methods of an herb are discarded in favor of intensively concentrating the dosage into one pill and thus, we see overdosage. People who take herbs as an alternitive source of medicine need to know what is safe--and what has worked in the past. and, I think growing your own is probably the best way, providing you have the knowledge and are willing to to some research.

Already, corporations are jumping on the "herb" bandwagon--it is just another source for them to increase their profit.

I would grow my own and only deal with herbalists who wild gather or grow their own.

[soleft]

3. This may be the first thing the Bush Admin. has done that I agree with

[ret5hd]

5. i dont dispute your right to agree...

but i feel its just another item added to the "War On (some) Drugs" list.

[Mr.Green93]

4. concerns about its effects on health

is b.s. This ban is about the war on drugs. (meth)

[LincolnMcGrath]

10. Here in IL the gov banned natural ephedra. (MA JUANG)

NOT synthetic ephedrine, psuedoephedrin, epinephrine, etc. The Pharma-blended versions are still around.

Not sure how this relates to meth.

[eyesroll]

6. I do not handle ephedra well

I took a free sample of an "energy drink" at a trade show once. The vendors neglected to tell me what was in it. Three hours later, I found myself sitting in the hotel lobby, heart racing, head spinning, concentration impossible, being talked down by the security guard. I looked up the brand later, and sure enough...(I know, I was stupid for taking it without questioning it in the first place.)

I am not sure about an outright ban, but I wouldn't cry if its use was restricted. For instance, no free samples at trade shows. (It was a cleaning trade show, I might add.)

[jonnyblitz]

7. looks like I ordered mine just in time.

damn.

[OrAnarch]

19. stocking up now...

at $5.50 a bottle of HCl. :)

After I run out or sell off, then just a better reason to black market it and find more effective substances that have previously been banned for a while. Unintended consequences are wonderful.

[LincolnMcGrath]

20. HCI might not get banned

See my post about IL.

[OrAnarch]

22. No worries...

Vasopro is a good deal at this price anyway. :) Synthetic is actually safer, as standardized doesn't gaurentee a consistant amount of the substance in each dose. Regardless, they do it in such a way only so that small companies have a harder time at profitting, yet it doesn't cut into the big coorporations that make OTC drugs for sickness, etc.

Just pisses me off. If I wanted advice on what I put in my body, Id ask Ashcroft first. Taking away, one at a time, another freedom and right to choose. So much easier than just educating people on how to properly use the stuff.

[LincolnMcGrath]

23. I hear ya

[jonnyblitz]

30. actually I think what I ordered was ephedrine

and what I brought back from Amsterdam was ephedra (Ma Juang).

[KittyWampus]

31. Synthetic Does Not Contain The Prana That Herbal Does

You can make fun of the millions of humans who realise what Prana, Qi or Life Force really is... but we have a right to use herbs that benefit our health.

Similarly, Orthodox Jews have a right to eat food that is grown and processed a particular way and Vegans have a right to eatr food that is organic.

[jonnyblitz]

29. i got mine at a greatly reduced price also

and I brought some back with me from Amsterdam.

[nuxvomica]

9. I'm ambivalent about this

Ephedra is a dangerous drug but I don't like the government restricting herbals. If risk were the only criteria for prohibition, marijuana would be legal and many prescription drugs would be banned.
Incidentally, Consumer Reports, in their January 2004 issue, has an article on "bitter orange," which is replacing ephedra in OTC weightloss supplements. It apparently has an action similar to ephedrine and is synergistic with caffeine, which is supplied by green tea in some of these preparations. Perhaps when ephedra is banned, bitter orange will become popular enough that people will have adverse reactions to it and it will be banned. Then they'll find something else.
One unfortunate thing about banning ephedra is that it's a kick-ass decongestant. It just shouldn't be used in high doses or repeatedly or in combination with caffeine and aspirin.

[LincolnMcGrath]

11. "Ephedra is a dangerous drug"

Your Opinion? Or Fact?
I have stacked for over 2 decades. (Ephedra/caffeine/aspirin)

[nuxvomica]

13. Haven't people died from using it?

It may not be dangerous for you but there is risk involved for some people in using it repeatedly and in the formulation you described. I think that makes it dangerous though I don't think it should be banned.

[LincolnMcGrath]

17. People have died from aspirin

and chocolate
strawberries and
peanuts and


NO death has been attributed DIRECTLY to ephedra: 2 and 3 a day football practices in 105 degree heat and 90 % humidity breaks bodies, not a natural product used for centuries.



Pharmaceutical Myth Building 101

[nuxvomica]

24. Well you've convinced me that there's some overreaction on this issue

I myself can't even take aspirin because it gives me tinnitus. Why? Because I took too much years ago when I had a tooth abscess. Your earlier post about the number of incidents compared to the number of servings is an excellent point. I am aware of our culture of fear and yet subject to it at the same time.

[LincolnMcGrath]

27. Answer that damn phone!

Ototoxic Drugs may cause Temp or Perm Tinnitus. I am a little tinny-eared myself. 12 years in the melt shop of a steel mill did it for me.

Get that phone!

[KittyWampus]

32. Culture of Fear- CNN Reporter Now Asking WHAT OTHER HERBS ARE OUT THERE!

music from Jaws plays subliminally in the background (not really... but you get the picture).

[Dr. Wu]

12. Republican nanny's strike again

[LincolnMcGrath]

14. Fact #1 ‚ Science Supports The Safety Of Ephedra

Scientific studies confirm that Ephedra products are safe and beneficial when used as part of an overall weight-loss program. In particular, a six-month study by researchers at Harvard and Columbia Universities on Ephedra/caffeine products concluded that the products were safe and produced significant weight loss. When reporting on Ephedra, the media often relies upon anecdotal adverse event reports (AERs) to raise unfounded alarm. Medical and scientific experts have reviewed the AERs compiled by the FDA and have affirmed that they do not provide sufficient evidence to link the adverse event to Ephedra. The General Accounting Office investigators reached the same conclusion in their report to Congress.

Moreover, these reviews make it clear that the very few adverse events that appear to be causally related to ephedra consumption are the result of misuse of Ephedra products. Like any over-the-counter health care product ‚ aspirin or allergy medicine, for instance ‚ Ephedra's safety is assured when it is taken according to directions on the label. Many food and health-care products, such aspirin can be harmful to certain individuals when improperly used. Considering how many billions of servings of Ephedra products are consumed every year, the frequency of adverse effects reports is relatively normal compared to other products.

[maggrwaggr]

33. not my personal science. That shit's NASTY.

I took it by accident, twice. It was in an herbal tea I was taking for a cold. I felt like I'd been poisoned. Horrible nausea, breaking out in sweats. Ugh. I see why it's a weightloss drug, you sure as hell don't want to eat, or do anything, when it's hitting you.

But I seriously felt poisoned from it.

[LincolnMcGrath]

34. Twice by accident?

My ex thought she was having a heart attack when she took it.

[Superfly]

15. Will Canada still allow its sale?

Looks like I'll be heading up there sometime soon.

[OrAnarch]

16. Canada never has that I am aware of...

:)

[Superfly]

18. OK, Germany, then...

Sheesh, I am going to have to be a world traveller to find any stuff nowadays.

[Kellanved]

36. still legal here

But they'll have to drop the "approved by the FDA" labels .
The UK will probably ban the pills soon; other EU nations (Germany almost certainly among them) will IMHO follow not long after that.

[LincolnMcGrath]

21. Great White North

reccalled it recently

[judge_smales]

25. Actually

the reason for the ban has *nothing* to do w/ public safety. It's another part of the long ago lost "war on drugs". Ephedra can be used as a base from which to manufacture methanphetamine (like pseudophedrine, remember that?) hence the move for the ban. I'll be stocking up in the next few months!

[LincolnMcGrath]

28. We shall see if only natural ephedra gets banned

Here in IL, only natural ephedra got banned. Pseudophedrine is still available.

[NNN0LHI]

26. Crystal meth must be cutting into Bush's heroin profits? n/t

[phaseolus]

37. Just out of pure cussedness I need to take issue with some of you

Let's start with "Fact #1 ‚ Science Supports The Safety Of Ephedra". Copy any half dozen words from the text of that message and run a google search on the exact phrase. You'll get a couple hits from Ephedra sellers' trade associations. The "science" in question here is a bought-and-paid-for study. Maybe the conclusion is a valid one, maybe not, I can't speak to it. But given the source of the funding the conclusion is as suspect as any scientific study funded by, say, the Tobacco Institute.

Second -- yes, Ma Huang has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine. In that context it was the best available solution to ailments, prescribed by highly trained, very knowledgeable practitioners to achieve certain ends. I'm not an expert on traditional medicine or cultures but I would be highly surprised to find out that it was used over-the-counter to give you "energy" (as today's ads put it -- "stimulation" would be the more honest word,) or used by middle-aged tubs of lard who are looking for the most effortless way to get the teenagers' body that a screwed-up media culture tells them they need to have.

Sure, there are valid arguments for not banning the stuff, but those two arguments are for shit.

[LincolnMcGrath]

38. The General Accounting Office investigators

reached the same conclusion.


By all means, back the drug companies in there effort to ban it.

some facts
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=587890&mesg_id=588039&page=

[phaseolus]

39. I don't think either side's particularly holy

...just because one side's active ingredient is naturally grown. The Ephedra people are players in a multi-billion dollar market that made them fabulously wealthy. Sorry, I don't see them as a buncha friendly hippies or anything..

That being said, banning the stuff is probably going overboard in my opinion. If the stuff works for you, more power to you.

[LincolnMcGrath]

41. MA HUANG only thing banned in IL

Don`t ban the natural and leave the synth/man made, is my beef.

[Retrograde]

42. Mormon tea

various Ephedra species - E.trifurca, E. viridis, E. torreyana, E. nevadensis and E. californica - grow all over the southwest U.S., where they've been used medicinally for centuries, and as a mild stimulant by Mormon settlers in the late 19th century. Are we to eradicate these as well? OK, they're nowhere near as potent as E. sinica, aka ma huang, which is something like 2% ephedrine.

I'm ambivalent about herbal medicine. On the one hand, I see no reason to ignore millenia of tried and true recipes, and I don't think the plants they come from should be banned, but on the other I'd rather take a known dose of reasonably pure, synthetic acetylsalicylic acid than drink willow bark tea. Especially when the main side effects of a self-administered botanical include nice things such as paralysis and death.

(Sorry for the plant lecture - it's a side effect of being a docent at a botanical garden. We have a lot of plants that have been, and still are, used medicinally, and talk about them, especially in the children's programs, but generally with the caveat that this was done by people who essentially apprenticed from childhood to a parent or other specialist who in turn learned at his or her parent's knee etc. so that they had a lot of practical experience using these plants.)


linda

[librechik]

40. My guess: Big Pharma has expensive substitutes in the wings

waiting to pounce on OTC rivals.

I can't take ephedra personally, but I hate to see more Government interference and prohibitions sneaking into our private lives. Why don't they go do something useful like figure out how to get us all medical coverage? That would be a much more effective use of our tax dollars, instead of trying to enforce another prohibition.