STONY BROOK, N.Y. -- Baltimore Orioles pitching prospect Steve Bechler became the latest professional athlete to succumb to the promise that weight loss coupled with enhanced performance could be achieved by taking ephedra.
Before this latest tragedy Feb. 17, other athletes, including Minnesota Vikings star tackle Korey Stringer, Northwestern University football player Rashidi Wheeler and Florida State's Devaughn Darling, died in 2001 after using supplements containing ephedra. No definitive cause of death was found, although exhaustion and dehydration were cited.
How many more deaths of young, apparently healthy athletes will be added to the total before all sports organizations follow the lead of forward-thinking athletic groups such as the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the National Football League and the International Olympic Committee that have banned ephedra-containing supplements? Where are the National Basketball Association and other athletic associations?
Perhaps they take their lead from the inaction of the federal government. Indeed, the time has come for Congress to finally enact legislation to regulate ephedra and other herbal products.
Major League Baseball this week banned the use of ephedrine-based products in the minor leagues. Its commissioner's office is expected to propose extending the ban to the majors, but the players' union is likely to resist it.
All sports organizations -- and, most importantly, the federal government -- should follow the example of the Suffolk County, N.Y., legislature, which courageously resisted pressure by manufacturers and distributors of these products and voted decisively Dec. 5 to outlaw sales of so-called dietary supplements containing ephedra.
Through misleading advertising, many Americans are convinced that products containing ephedra promote long-term weight loss, increase energy and enhance athletic performance. Ephedra, in fact, achieves none of these.
Like its chemical cousins, methamphetamine ("speed") and phenylpropanolamine (PPA), ephedra temporarily suppresses appetite. But sustained weight loss has never been convincingly demonstrated at doses of ephedra generally considered to be safe.
Ephedra is associated with serious adverse reactions, including death. It is estimated that 100,000 Americans have experienced such reactions over the past few years. Products containing ephedra account for 64 percent of adverse reactions to botanical products reported to poison control centers in the United States -- even though they represent only eight-tenths of a percent of sales.
