FDA Expected to Announce Ban on Ephedra, Report Says

Reuters ^ | 12/30/03

[truthandlife]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to announce on Tuesday that it will ban the weight-loss herb ephedra, the first time the agency has moved to outlaw a dietary supplement, the Wall Street Journal said.

Federal officials are expected to provide details for implementing the ban through a formal ruling that is likely to take months to go into effect, the paper said.

[truthandlife]

Very hypocritical of the FDA

Pro-Lifers Say OTC Morning-After Pill Would Have Disastrous Results

[11th Earl of Mar]

Very hypocrtitical indeed.

[Ff--150]

YEA!!!!! The pharmaceuticals finally got their way!! Outlawing a herb that actually works! Praise God!

Come on "touchy-feelies", tell us how many lives are being saved now that this herb has been successfully banned.

[American Soldier]

So will ephedrine still be legal? It's just this one preparation of it that their banning?

[tacticalogic]

Someday we will celebrate the attainment of a risk free society - and promptly be arrested for it.

[Independentamerican]

What a crock. So the supplement actually works and you have a few idiots who decide to abuse it. Wow I lost 10 lbs in 4 weeks on 2 pills a day..Maybe I should take 6 pills a day and watch it work wonders. If you abuse anything Alcohol and some other over the counter medicine you should guess that there may be some negative repercussions.

[rednek]

An FYI. I suffered a heart attack in June. The first question I was asked at the emergency room dealt with herbal supplements in general and Ephedra in particular. I was taking neither. Later conversation with my doctor revealed to me that a large percentage of heart attack patients in Oklahoma City are taking Ephedra and other supplements for weight loss. The herbals are causing the heart attacks!! The stuff is scary and people with no clue are selling it!

regards - red

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

What a crock. So the supplement actually works and you have a few idiots who decide to abuse it

Yep! The people who died from it used it excessively during rigorous exercise, in which the directions clearly state not to.

The FDA should be dismantled and a private, non-profit organization should test and certify drugs.

[muggs]

Later conversation with my doctor revealed to me that a large percentage of heart attack patients in Oklahoma City are taking Ephedra and other supplements for weight loss. The herbals are causing the heart attacks!!

Maybe the heart attacks were caused by some of the people being over weight and having unhealthy lifestyles.

[George W. Bush]

Thanks for some real-life input.

When herbals make the same claims as to medical effects as do pharmaceuticals, they should be studied and regulated by the FDA like any other drug. Studies have found that, however effective for some people, that St. John's Wart is not as effective as claimed and can be counterproductive for some patients. Yet, it works well for some. But it should receive the same scrutiny as a pharmaceutical if it makes comparable medical claims.

Herbal, in the minds of too many, somehow automatically means harmless. People need to be more thoughtful about what they put in their bodies. The herbal companies are not intrinsicly more noble or effective than the pharmco's.

It doesn't seem to me that they have a strong enough case to ban ephedra yet. You can probably find plenty of evidence against Viagra too. I expect ephedra will remain on the market after a brief hiatus but will have a warning label. Unless the pharmco's have their way and get it outlawed permanently in the interests of private profit.

[Ff--150]

regards-red, it's propoganda, hearsay, a lie that's told often enough everybody will regard as truth.

Kids of ours will be in Edmond and Norman today...FWIW

[Wolfie]

Heh...Big Pharm lobbying pays off, again.

[wita]

Why do I think this ban has more to do with the synthesis of meth, than is does with heart attack and weight loss?

[xrp]

I can't wait for the jacbooted thugs to be kicking in doors to stop dietary supplement takers.

[Sender]

Ephedra, or ephedrine, is a stimulant and just like caffeine, shouldn't be overdosed or used as a replacement for sleep. It does provide useful energy when used as part of a diet plan. Could it be harmful if used/abused to excess by overweight, hypertensive couch potatoes? Absolutely. But to many people it is a helpful substance.

This whole brouhaha about FDA regulation will only result in ephedra diet supplements and ephedrine bronchodilators being made prescription only, so that's just one more everyday substance that we must go through the system to get, spending hundreds of dollars of private/insurance money just to have a physician say "sure, you can have diet supplements".

Whatever happened to personal responsibility? There are countless OTC products out there that can be harmful if abused. I'm surprised they haven't made Tylenol and IB prescription yet, so we'll have to go through the system if we have a headache.

[Search4Truth]

So the government is going to outlaw another plant. Marvelous. We should outlaw the FDA instead.

I for one rather that stupid people be allowed to kill themselves in any manner they choose, and I be allowed to do what I decide is in my own best interest.

The nanny state is the enemy of all self respecting men.

BTW, the Navajo Indians make a great Ephedra tea. It'll put a real spring in your step. I guess I'll be having to buy that tea on the black market soon. Can anyone believe that we are actually discussing outlawing tea in America?

[okkev68]

I started having irregular heartbeats from taking xenadrine. My problem was too much exercise while carrying too much extra weight and I found out later I have high blood pressure. Not a good combo for ephedra.

While I don't think they should ban ephedra, it is the one herbal supplement that I think people should be extremely careful with, because it works by raising your blood pressure.

FWIW - I live in Edmond.

[tacticalogic]

People need to be more thoughtful about what they put in their bodies.

The FDA banning ephedra because some people weren't seems counter-productive to accomplishing that. It fosters the mindset that "If it's dangerous, the government will ban it, so if it isn't banned it must be safe." Bungee-jumping on an apron string.

[Dr Warmoose]

When herbals make the same claims as to medical effects as do pharmaceuticals, they should be studied and regulated by the FDA like any other drug

God made the herbs and you want the FDA to second-guess God?

The Mormons will be thrilled to see the government putting further restrictions on them.

[Dr Warmoose]

Can anyone believe that we are actually discussing outlawing tea in America?

We need to tell the Bush Administration that like the Mormons, Muslims are religiously opposed to caffeine consumption - thus the Mormon Tea made from desert plants contains ephedra not caffeine.

Since 'W' only cares about Muslims, maybe he will recognize that this action might oppress them and the Jackbooted thugs in the FDA will reconsider.