EPHEDRA INVESTIGATION

The Law Office of Richard L. Ellison, P.C.  is investigating claims that the herbal supplement ephedrine and other ephedra alkaloids have caused serious injuries and death. Attorney Richard Ellison is working with a team of medical doctors and professionals to  conduct this Ephedrine Investigation. The goal is to inform the public of the risks, and to assist individuals who have been seriously harmed by these products.  

Ephedra is implicated in the death  of a 23-year-old athlete - Steve Bechler - a prospective pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles. Coroner Dr. Joshua Perper not only found Ephedra partly to blame for Bechlar's sudden death, he went so far as to say no athlete should take it. "This was certainly a preventable death; it didn't have to occur, this kind of tragedy," said Broward County's chief medical examiner.

According to the FDA, Metabolife is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. This criminal investigation began back in August, 2002.

At the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's request, scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, reviewed 140 reports of serious problems with ephedra-containing products. Among the problems they found:

·    43 cases were definitely or probably related to the supplements

·    44 cases were possibly related to the supplements

·    10 deaths

·    13 people who were left with permanent disabilities

To date, the FDA has reported over 44 deaths and over 1000 serious side effects linked to Ephedrine.

"The use of dietary supplements does pose a health risk to some people," says Neal Benowitz, MD, professor of medicine and chief of clinical pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco. "Just because it's natural, doesn't mean it's safe." Benowitz and postdoctoral researcher Christine Haller, MD, reviewed the 140 reports of deaths or injuries the FDA received related to ephedra. Researchers concluded that ephedrine use "definitely" or "probably" caused harm in 31% of the cases. Of these cases, three people died, seven suffered permanent injury and four required ongoing medical treatment.

Originating from the Ephedra plant, ephedrine has been advertised as a time-tested Chinese herb ("ma huang") that will relieve asthma and allergy symptoms, as well as enhance athletic performance and weight loss.

Ephedrine is the active ingredient found in popular diet pills, over-the-counter decongestants, allergy medications, herbal energy boosters and herbal asthma remedies. Ephedrine can be found in products such as Mini Thins, Ultimate Orange, Ripped Fuel and Metabolife.

The current investigation by The Law Office Of Richard L. Ellison, P.C.  is focusing on the following adverse events associated with the use of ephedrine:

Strokes,

Heart attacks, and

Seizures.

As an over the counter herbal supplement, ephedrine is not regulated by the FDA. Recently, however, the FDA has proposed to establish a finding that a dietary supplement is adulterated if it contains 8 milligrams or more of ephedrine alkaloids per serving within a six hour period or a daily total intake of 24 mg or more of ephedrine alkaloids. The proposition also requires the labels of such supplements to state that the product is not to be used for more than seven days.

The FDA proposed the above action after receiving over 800 adverse events associated with the use of the dietary supplements that contain ephedrine alkaloids and reviewing scientific literature and other data concerning ephedrine alkaloids. The FDA has received approximately 14,775 comments in response to its ephedrine alkaloid proposal.

In response to growing concern about the safety of ephedra alkaloids in dietary supplements, the FDA requested an independent review of reports of adverse events related to the use of ephedrine so it could assess causation and determine the level of risk these products pose to consumers.

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Richard L. Ellison is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law and Civil Trial Law, by the Texas Board of  Legal Specialization. He is working with a team of medical doctors and health care professionals to review cases where ephedra is suspected to have caused serious injury.

If you or a family member may have suffered from serious negative side effects, specifically strokes, heart attacks, or seizures, associated with ephedrine and would like more information concerning your legal rights, please contact us.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this article is not intended to be legal or medical advice. If you have suffered any of the symptoms described here, you should immediately contact a physician.  Take care of your health first, then confer with an attorney.  Also, strokes, heart attacks,  high blood pressure, and other ailments can be caused by factors other than Ephedra, and  it requires a review by a qualified physician to determine the cause(s) of a specific incident was caused or aggravated by ephedra.  Every individual case must be evaluated on its own merits, and nothing in this article is intended as a representation that any particular incident is grounds for a lawsuit