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More On The Forthcoming Ephedra/Ephedrine Ban
Looks like it won't be long before ephedra and ephedrine go the way of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. While US Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has stated it wasn't clear just how dangerous, if at all, ephedra is, he feels, "it is crucial that we have a full understanding of these dietary supplements? by increasing our breadth of knowledge about these supplements, we can give consumers the information they need to make informed decisions about these products."
Thompson said the RAND corporation (a big think tank), would finish a "comprehensive review" of the studies on ephedra and this would be used as the basis for further study by the National Institutes of Health. You can make a safe bet that the RAND corporation "study" will be heavily slanted regarding the so-called dangers of ephedrine.
One "consumer protection group" called Public Citizen has battled for years to have ephedrine containing products taken off the market. A spokes-idiot for this group had the balls to say this about the delay that Thompson essentially instituted in banning ephedrine by requesting more studies, "?the announcement by HHS, which not only fails to ban ephedra dietary supplements but also fails to seriously warn against the use of these products, should result in the firing of all officials in HHS and the FDA who are responsible for this dangerous cowardice."
This guy, Dr. Sidney Wolfe, who heads Public Citizen's health research arm, also stated, "By now, there have been well over 100 deaths reported to the FDA in people using ephedra-containing products and, as described in our Sept. 5, 2001, petition to ban these products, there are more reports of death, stroke, arrhythmia, heart attacks, chest pain, seizures and hypertension for ephedra than for all other dietary supplements combined." I wonder when Dr. Wolfe is going to call for the banning of alcohol and aspirin, both of which cause thousands of more deaths per year than ephedrine containing products? Don't hold your breath.
Wolfe was quoted as saying, "If there had been this many problems with a prescription drug it would have been taken off the market." This is a crock of crap. Feel free to write Dr. Wolfe regarding your feelings about ephedra/ephedrine at: Dr. Sidney Wolfe, 1600 20th St. NW Washington, DC. 20009 or call them and be heard at (202) 588-1000.
And for all our Canuck T-Mag readers, the situation is just as bad where you are. A few months ago, Health Canada, (Canada's equivalent of the FDA), expressed worry about excessive doses of ephedra and asked makers to voluntarily recall products containing the supplement.
And if you think Big Brother is just trying to nab us ephedrine users in the fat loss market, think again. The US Health and Human Services also said it would "aggressively pursue" makers of non-herbal synthetic ephedrine products (e.g., the stuff you can get at gas stations everywhere as a "pick me up"). As part of these efforts, the FDA has sent six warning letters to firms unlawfully selling non-herbal ephedrine-containing products over the internet.
You can let Tommy Thompson know how you feel, too. Drop our Health and Human Services leaser an e-mail via [email protected] or by snail mail to: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20201 or call them at (202) 619-0257.
Rest in peace, MD6.
More On The Forthcoming Ephedra/Ephedrine Ban
Looks like it won't be long before ephedra and ephedrine go the way of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. While US Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has stated it wasn't clear just how dangerous, if at all, ephedra is, he feels, "it is crucial that we have a full understanding of these dietary supplements? by increasing our breadth of knowledge about these supplements, we can give consumers the information they need to make informed decisions about these products."
Thompson said the RAND corporation (a big think tank), would finish a "comprehensive review" of the studies on ephedra and this would be used as the basis for further study by the National Institutes of Health. You can make a safe bet that the RAND corporation "study" will be heavily slanted regarding the so-called dangers of ephedrine.
One "consumer protection group" called Public Citizen has battled for years to have ephedrine containing products taken off the market. A spokes-idiot for this group had the balls to say this about the delay that Thompson essentially instituted in banning ephedrine by requesting more studies, "?the announcement by HHS, which not only fails to ban ephedra dietary supplements but also fails to seriously warn against the use of these products, should result in the firing of all officials in HHS and the FDA who are responsible for this dangerous cowardice."
This guy, Dr. Sidney Wolfe, who heads Public Citizen's health research arm, also stated, "By now, there have been well over 100 deaths reported to the FDA in people using ephedra-containing products and, as described in our Sept. 5, 2001, petition to ban these products, there are more reports of death, stroke, arrhythmia, heart attacks, chest pain, seizures and hypertension for ephedra than for all other dietary supplements combined." I wonder when Dr. Wolfe is going to call for the banning of alcohol and aspirin, both of which cause thousands of more deaths per year than ephedrine containing products? Don't hold your breath.
Wolfe was quoted as saying, "If there had been this many problems with a prescription drug it would have been taken off the market." This is a crock of crap. Feel free to write Dr. Wolfe regarding your feelings about ephedra/ephedrine at: Dr. Sidney Wolfe, 1600 20th St. NW Washington, DC. 20009 or call them and be heard at (202) 588-1000.
And for all our Canuck T-Mag readers, the situation is just as bad where you are. A few months ago, Health Canada, (Canada's equivalent of the FDA), expressed worry about excessive doses of ephedra and asked makers to voluntarily recall products containing the supplement.
And if you think Big Brother is just trying to nab us ephedrine users in the fat loss market, think again. The US Health and Human Services also said it would "aggressively pursue" makers of non-herbal synthetic ephedrine products (e.g., the stuff you can get at gas stations everywhere as a "pick me up"). As part of these efforts, the FDA has sent six warning letters to firms unlawfully selling non-herbal ephedrine-containing products over the internet.
You can let Tommy Thompson know how you feel, too. Drop our Health and Human Services leaser an e-mail via [email protected] or by snail mail to: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20201 or call them at (202) 619-0257.
Rest in peace, MD6.