Why Is Ephedra Banned?

Ephedra is considered to be a very effective weight loss pill. However, it is also a fact that Ephedra is currently off limits in the United States thanks to a directive by the US Food and Drugs Administration that rules that ephedra is a very dangerous substance. The FDA ruled in 2004 that the product's usage can result to serious complications which include death and psychiatric episodes.

What Was Behind the Ruling?

The FDA took some time to come up with its decision, actually giving the ruling 7 years after the product has taken hold of the United States market. There have been two major events that eventually led to the eventual banning of ephedra products in the United States.

First one would be the death of Minnesota Vikings player Korey Stringer. Though it was less publicized as the second event, ephedra was still tagged as a cause of death for Stringer.

The other event, however, is said to be very instrumental behind the FDA's ultimate ruling in 2004 that ephedra products would be taken off the shelves and not distributed for sale with the American population. This was the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler. Bechler's death was due to heat stroke, but ephedra was still incriminated as instrumental to his death as he was known to have been training to lose weight and taking ephedra pills.

Scientific Studies

The ruling of the FDA was not influenced by the deaths of two prominent individuals, however. It also based its claim on several scientific studies that have been published about Ephedra. These studies back up the assumption that ephedra has several undesirable and dangerous effects to any individual taking it.

One of these was a 2003 literature published by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. Centering on the topic of ephedra, this report cites several incidences that occurred specifically 24 hours after the individual's usage of ephedra products. These incidences include three deaths, two heart attacks, two strokes, one seizure and three psychiatric incidents.

Another published report from which the FDA had based its decision is the 2003 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. This study claims that ephedra has the most number of reported cases in which the consumer has shown adverse reactions to his herbal supplements. This report, however, was thought to be controversial as ephedra accounted for only a small percentage of the herbal supplement market in the United States.

Current Status of the Ban

The ban has faced several challenges in the past. Once it had been overturned by a Federal District Court in Utah, saying that the FDA's ruling was inappropriate. However, the FDA's appeal was granted in its favor in 2006, thus reimposing the ban on the products. Once again, it was challenged which recently resulted to an overturning of the ban in 2009.

The battle is still far from over, however. Clearly, the FDA will continue to fight for its ruling. One thing is also sure: it will be awhile before the shelves will see ephedra products placed on them.

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