Ephedra Ban Overturned

The FDA ban on supplements containing ephedra was recently struck down by a federal judge. This is not surprising. Substances such as tobacco and alcohol, which are more dangerous than ephedra and which undoubtedly cause many more deaths, can be purchased and used legally. The FDA was unable to prove that ephedra was a drug and not a food. There used to be a big jar of it at the East End Food Coop in Pittsburgh. It was quite visible that it was a plant and an herb. You could scoop heaps of it into a paper bag, buy it cheaply in bulk, and make a very nasty brew of it at home with a mug, a tea strainer, and hot water. It wasn’t going to be easy for the FDA to ban it, especially when there is money to be made from selling it.

According to Mark Thiessen of the AP in "Judge Strikes Down FDA Ban on Ephedra," April 15, 2005, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (Democrat, Illinois) and Orrin Hatch (Republican, Utah) worked to ban the substance. Durbin and Hatch are to be congratulated for their efforts. At least the attempt to ban ephedra has alerted the public to its danger. According to Thiessen, "Research shows that the amphetamine-like herb can speed heart rate and constrict blood vessels even in seemingly healthy people, but it is particularly risky for those with heart disease or high blood pressure or who engage in strenuous exercise." A famous case where ephedra use was the cause of death involved a pitcher in the Baltimore Orioles’ system, Steve Bechler.

My family’s experience with ephedra illustrates the danger. When I was suffering from anorexia and already had an irregular heart beat, I was able to walk into "health" food stores and purchase it as a dietary supplement. I was also able to purchase the herb itself at the food coop, as I described above. My heart pounded even faster after using ephedra, which was very dangerous for an anorexic who was already at risk for heart trouble. One of my relatives, however, used ephedra without even knowing she was doing so! She and her family had been given free bottles of a vitamin and herbal energy supplement when they purchased some type of food processor or juicer. The manufacturer, naturally, was hoping my relative’s family would like the supplement and purchase it regularly. My relative bragged about how energetic she felt after taking it but noticed that her heart was pounding very fast. This relative is an extremely conscientious and upstanding citizen who would never purposely endanger her or her family’s health. I suspected right away one of the herbs that might be hidden in the massive list of ingredients. I asked to see the bottle, and sure enough, one ingredient hidden among many others was "ephedra sinica." At that time, neither of us knew of the danger, or I would have warned her to stop taking it. To this day, I don’t think she even knows she and her family were taking ephedra.

My family’s experience with ephedra is frightening in hindsight, because high blood pressure and stroke run in our family. In addition, this relative periodically has problems with high cholesterol.

Let’s hope that ephedra received enough negative publicity during the short-lived ban to deter people from using it and inform those who might inadvertently take it.