Finally, a Bush administration decision that I can wholeheartedly endorse.
The AP is reporting that the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration will announce today that the U.S. government will ban ephedra from the marketplace. This has been a pet issue of mine for a while and I couldn’t be happier about the decision.
Ephedra is marketed as an “herbal stimulant” that can help people looking to lose weight or athletes hoping to “enhance” their exercise regimen, but the truth is ephedra is the “chemical cousin” of methamphetamine.
FDA reports implicated ephedra in at least 100 deaths and several hundred cases of serious illness, including arrhythmia, hypertension, heart attacks, seizures, and strokes. The drug received increased attention after doctors announced they believe the drug caused a fatal stroke in Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler last spring.
While the FDA and HHS have known about the dangers associated with ephedra for years, the agencies have been slow to act in part because of the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (or DSHEA), championed by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).
Hatch’s DSHEA shifted the burden of proof from manufacturers to regulators on potential dangerous supplements such as ephedra. 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.”
Forunately, however, the Bush administration, much to my surprise, has apparently decided to overcome these burdens and remove ephedra from shelves. The administration’s move follows the lead taken by California, New York, and Illinois, each of which banned ephedra from their respective states over the last year. Moreover, several sports leagues, including the National Football League, have already banned use of the drug among its athletes.
I don’t agree with the Bush administration often, but this is definitely a move I can applaud.