Ephedrine

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The medical examiner who performed Steve Bechler's autopsy revealed some new evidence yesterday that reinforces why he is so confident ephedrine played a role in Bechler's death. Dr. Joshua Perper, Broward County's chief medical examiner, said medical reports provided by the Orioles show Bechler's ephedrine use dated about two years. Perper also said that a blood sample drawn soon after Bechler reached the hospital will give toxicologists a better chance of finding traces of ephedrine in Bechler's system than any blood taken after a long, laborious struggle in the intensive care unit.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - At first, Bill Pulsipher did not want to talk about the time he passed out after taking too many pills containing ephedrine and maybe survived only because his wife found him on the floor in time to get him to the hospital. "I don't want to go there again, and I don't want to have to go through this five, six, seven times," Pulsipher said yesterday, pulling on an orange practice jersey inside a clubhouse that has become the epicenter for a national debate on the role and use of ephedrine - not just in baseball, perhaps, but everywhere.

It is always sad when someone as young as Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler dies, but the reaction to his death is surprising in that blame is being assigned to Major League Baseball, the Orioles, the Food and Drug Administration; in short, to anything and everyone except Mr. Bechler. Organizations do not need to try to forestall every bad judgment that could be made by their employees. Mr. Bechler knew, or should have known, the risks of taking ephedra; he also knew, or should have known, that he was over his proper weight before he went to training camp.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Momentum continues to build in a wide-ranging effort to restrict the use of weight-loss supplements containing the herbal stimulant that may have contributed to the death of Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig released a statement yesterday calling for talks with the Major League Baseball Players Association aimed at placing ephedrine and other potentially dangerous - but legal - supplements on Major League Baseball's list of banned substances.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The family of fallen Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler headed home to Oregon yesterday, but questions remain about what to do about the weight-loss drug that may have contributed to his death. Major League Baseball is expected to make another push to place ephedrine on the list of restricted substances covered by the sport's new drug policy, though that can only be done with the cooperation of the Major League Baseball Players Association. The Food and Drug Administration already has commissioned a study by the Rand Corporation to quantify the possibly deadly effects of the substance, which is sold over the counter as a weight-loss aid and legal stimulant.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Orioles owner Peter Angelos had misty eyes and a heavy heart after flying in from Baltimore to attend Steve Bechler's memorial service last night inside the team's spring training clubhouse. After listening to speeches by several of Bechler's family members and former teammates -- including Kiley Bechler, who is 7 1/2 months' pregnant -- Angelos called the pitcher's death "a terrible tragedy ... that defies definition." Then, when the topic turned to ephedrine, the stimulant that Broward County's chief medical examiner believes contributed to Bechler's heatstroke and death, Angelos turned as vigilant as ever.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - With paramedics working desperately inside the training room Sunday to try to save Steve Bechler's life, Orioles pitcher Matt Riley recognized a bottle of Xenadrine RFA-1 from Bechler's locker and threw it in the trash. Riley knew Xenadrine was legal, but he knew the team frowned upon its use, and something told him to protect his good friend's reputation just in case. "I don't know who got the bottle, but it was in the training room, and they handed it to me," Riley said yesterday.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - It's a stimulant. It's a weight-loss product. It's a cold and asthma medication. It also might be a killer. Ephedrine, the active ingredient in the herbal stimulant ephedra, is in the news again this week after the heatstroke death of 23-year-old Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler. The drug is sold - often combined with caffeine - over the counter at health food and supplement stores under brands that promote its ability to burn off fat and give an athlete that extra boost of energy.

Health advocates have been calling on the federal government for more than a year to ban dietary supplements containing ephedra alkaloids, the herbal compounds that may have played a role in the death Monday of Orioles pitching prospect Steve Bechler. "The government's failure to ban products containing ephedrine showed extraordinary political cowardice," Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe, director of the Public Citizen Health Research Group, said yesterday. "There are more reports of deaths, heart attacks, seizures and dangerous effect from these products than from all other dietary supplements combined."

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The autopsy performed yesterday on Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler uncovered several factors that contributed to his death from heatstroke, but Broward County medical examiner Dr. Joshua Perper placed significant blame on a weight-loss drug containing ephedrine. Perper reported that Bechler was suffering from moderate hypertension and found some evidence of liver dysfunction. The 23-year-old pitcher also had little food in his digestive system, which caused the medical examiner to conclude that he had been on a strict diet.