Ephedrine Still Banned In Sports
FORT WORTH — Ephedra will remain a banned substance in at least three professional sports, even if a recent court ruling ends up putting the controversial dietary supplement back on store shelves.
Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball's executive vice president of labor relations, confirmed in an e-mail that ephedra will remain on baseball's banned substances list. MLB officials banned ephedra after Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler died in February 2003. Bechler collpased during a spring training workout, and a medical examiner said ephedra played a role in his death.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed ephedra, which league officials banned in 2002, would remain on the league's banned substances list. The Washington Post quoted NFL Players Association leader Gene Upshaw as saying, "The dangers are still there, as far as we're concerned.. .. We have enough concerns about this. It's still going to be on our banned list."
NASCAR banned ephedra in January 2004 after a USA TODAY report quoted one racing team's trainer as estimating that 80% of crew members had tried supplements containing ephedra. "Based on what I've read about the court ruling, there's no reason for us to change," NASCAR vice president of communications Jim Hunter said Friday.
The Food and Drug Administration banned ephedra in April 2004, saying supplements that contained the substance present "an unreasonable risk of illness or injury."
On Thursday, a federal judge in Salt Lake City overruled the ban, which was being challenged by a Utah supplement company. The company argued that ephedra, which is derived from a plant found primarily in China, "has been safely consumed" for hundreds of years, and that ephedra was wrongly being regulated by the FDA as a drug and not a food.
The judge said the law requires the FDA to prove that a dietary supplement is harmful, rather than having the manufacturer prove it is safe, as is required with drugs.
Bruce Hough, president of Nutraceutical, the company that challenged the FDA ban, told the Associated Press his company interprets the ruling to mean that it is allowed to start selling ephedra supplements again, but said it is too soon to say whether it will put the products back on the market.
FDA spokeswoman Kimberly Rawlings told the AP the agency is "evaluating the decision."
