The facts about Ephedra and why the FDA was overruled
In December of 2003 the FDA announced a ban on the sale of products containing Ephedra. In April 2005, a federal judge in Utah overturned the FDA's blanket ban on Ephedra. The court in its decision in reversing the ban stated, among other things, that the FDA must adhere to the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). The FDA cannot treat Ephedra, a dietary supplement, as a drug or medical device. The court also indicated that the FDA could not prove that in doses of 10 mg or less posed any health risk at all.
The facts regarding EphedraThis herb comes from a plant that has been in existence for more than 5,000 years. Over the years asthma and bronchitis were treated using Ephedra. For centuries this plant has been used and is continued to be used by the Chinese in herbal medicinal practice with no adverse consequences. Eventually it also gained attention as providing benefits in stimulating the body by increasing metabolism and providing more energy. A benefit of this was its effectiveness in burning fat. It didn't take long for Ephedra to quickly take on the status of a weight loss supplement and sport supplement. Unfortunately, as is true with any good thing, too much of it can lead to negative ramifications due to abusive and careless practices.
The unequivocal and irrevocable fact remains that Ephedra was never proven to have any harmful or negative side effects if the appropriate dosage was taken. No one, not even the FDA, has ever proven any harmful side effects if taken at the recommended dose of 10 mg or less per day. Unfortunately, a very small number of athletes had taken dosages far over the recommended safe level and suffered the consequences. Even though a maximum of 155 deaths were linked to Ephedra (some of those deaths are questionable) that number is statistically insignificant compared to the number of deaths due to aspirin and over-the-counter NSAIDs which result in 16,000 deaths each year.
When it comes to prescription drugs the number of deaths get even worse - much worse. Consider Vioxx which was voluntarily taken from the market by Merck in 2004. This prescription drug has been estimated to cause 55,000 deaths. Yet the FDA quietly gave permission for this drug to return to the market in 2005. The frightening fact is that there are many more drugs out there that have similar adverse effects and a high number of deaths related to their continued use. Pharmaceutical drugs have proven to be far more hazardous that Ephedra or any natural supplement has been or could be yet the FDA remains silent. The FDA was created by the United States Congress to protect the people of this country from harmful drugs - a task, at which as their record shows, has been abysmal to say the least.
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