After a federal judge in New Jersey had rejected a producer’s bid to keep the weight-loss aid on the market an American ban on sales of ephedra (the herbal supplement) came into effect on Monday.
This nationwide prohibition is the first for a dietary supplement. The government associates ephedra with heart attacks, strokes and even deaths. Producers convince that ephedra is absolutely safe when it is used as recommended. U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano rejected a request from NVE Inc., ephedra seller, ti withhold temporarily the ban from going into effect.
After a federal judge in New Jersey had rejected a producer’s bid to keep the weight-loss aid on the market an American ban on sales of ephedra (the herbal supplement) came into effect on Monday.
This nationwide prohibition is the first for a dietary supplement. The government associates ephedra with heart attacks, strokes and even deaths. Producers convince that ephedra is absolutely safe when it is used as recommended. U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano rejected a request from NVE Inc., ephedra seller, ti withhold temporarily the ban from going into effect.
NVE is a private-owned company from New Jersey. It had argued that the government did not magane to prove ephedra posed an “unreasonable risk,” as a 1994 supplements law requires. NVE is the manufacturer of an ephedra product called Stacker 2. NVE also sells a free version of ephedra. Officials from NVE were not available to comment on the situation.
Health authorities say ephedra is a dangerous stimulant that increases blood pressure and stresses the circulatory system. When the ban was announced in December 2003, the Food and Drug Administration revealed it had reports of 155 deaths of people who took ephedra and more than 16,500 complaints.
Although ephedra has been taken by millions of American citizens to lose weight and boost athletic performance, sales dropped after risks were publicized and major retailers stopped selling it. Attention grew after Baltimore Orioles pitching prospect Steve Bechler had died in February 2003. A Florida medical investigator revealed the connection of ephedra with Bechler’s death.
According to the Nutrition Business Journal, compared to 2002, ephedra sales fell by 60%, to about $500 million in 2003.
