One state down, 49 to go
Kudos to the Illinois legislature and Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) for signing the nation’s first statewide ban on ephedra. One can only hope other states will follow Illinois’ example.
Blagojevich signed the state ban on the dangerous drug yesterday following a high-profile fight launched by an Illinois family whose son died last fall after using ephedra to try and improve his chances of making a school football team.
At the signing ceremony, Blagojevich said the state ban is a “good first step but it’s not enough.” I couldn’t agree more.
Fortunately, others are taking incremental steps in this direction. Earlier this month, General Nutrition Centers (GNC), a supplement retailer with stores across the country, announced it would pull ephedra products from its shelves. Also, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) signed a state bill last week to prohibit the sale of any dietary supplements to children under the age of 18. Perhaps the most sweeping ban came two years ago when the U.S. military banned ephedra to help keep our armed forces safe.
All of these are positive steps, but lawmakers in Congress, who’ve benefited for years from generous contributions from the supplement industry, need to take action as well.
Ephedra is marketed as an “herbal stimulant” that can help people looking to lose weight or athletes hoping to “enhance” their exercise regimen. Unfortunately, ephedra is the “chemical cousin” of methamphetamine.
Tommy Thompson, secretary of Health and Human Services, was asked during congressional testimony about the drug during a House hearing earlier this year. “I wouldn’t use it, would you?” Thompson said.
As I noted in February, Thompson’s rhetorical question doesn’t appear on the label so unsuspecting consumers don’t necessarily know about ephedra’s dangers. The typical American, for example, probably hasn’t seen the FDA reports that implicate ephedra in at least 80 deaths and 1,400 cases of serious illness, including arrhythmia, hypertension, heart attacks, seizures, and strokes between 1994 and 2000.
The most significant obstacle to meaningful reform is the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (or DSHEA), championed by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).
To make a long-story short, Hatch’s DSHEA ties the government’s hands by shifting the burden of proof from manufacturers to regulators. DSHEA doesn’t require manufacturers to prove their product is safe before putting the pills on store shelves, it requires the FDA to prove the product is unsafe. Worse, while drug manufacturers are required to record and report adverse reactions effecting consumers taking their medication, Hatch’s DSHEA frees makers of these “dietary supplements” from this “burden.”
As Stephanie Mencimer explained in the Washington Monthly, “Thanks to Hatch, the U.S. now has standards as low as those in many Third World countries for the sale of many products with serious, pharmacological effects.”
It’s great to see Illinois taking the lead on pulling ephedra from its shelves, and I hope other governors follow Blagojevich’s lead. But the real problem is Hatch’s DSHEA, which makes it nearly impossible for government regulators to keep dangerous “supplements” out of the hands of consumers. The law should be repealed.