Steve Quayle News Alerts

August 1, 2002

WASHINGTON — As many Americans turn to diet pills to fight the battle of the bulge, some lawmakers on Capitol Hill are wondering if using certain products on the market is sending consumers on a suicide mission to stay thin.

"You know that three football players dropped dead after taking these supplements and the NFL has banned it as well as the International Olympic Committee and the NCAA," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who chaired a Senate panel Wednesday.

Members of the Senate Governmental Affairs subcommittee said they are concerned about serious problems that have been linked to some dietary pills. Reactions such as heart attacks, strokes, tachycardia, paranoid psychosis, depression, convulsions, coma, fever, vomiting, palpitations, hypertension, and respiratory depression have all been cited as possible effects of diet drugs.

Americans spent about $2 billion on weight loss supplements last year, in some cases with disturbing results. Poison control centers reported 13,000 complaints associated with diet pills, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

One diet pill consumer testified about taking pills with the herb ephedra for weight loss and more energy. Karen Ruiz, a mother from California, said they caused her to develop mental problems quickly.

"At one point I felt that I was being watched and I remember thinking that my neighbor was demonically possessed. I was flipping in and out of paranoia but then followed by thoughts of what I presumed were divine and coming from God," Ruiz said, adding that she thinks poorly labeled diet pills contributed to the problem.

Manufacturers insist their products are safe and say any reports of sick patients don't prove that the herb is dangerous because illnesses could just be a coincidence.

Chinese medicine has used ephedra -- called "ma huang" after the plant from which it comes -- for thousands of years, and proponents say ephedra is safe and effective as long as people follow the directions.

But that's not sound advice for some.

"The industry here is pretty quick to point out that these are dietary supplements that have been used for thousands of years and are currently used in other countries when the truth of the matter is they're actually addressed more commonly as prescription drugs or prescription products in these countries, and the traditional use is very different from what the commercialized use is right now," said Cynthia Culmo, chairwoman of the Drugs, Devices and Cosmetics Committee for the Association of Food and Drug Officials based in Austin, Texas.

A Food and Drug Administration official said more research is needed to figure out if ephedra is dangerous. The FDA is being pressured to issue warning labels or ban it.

Lawmakers and experts suggested that HHS and the FDA should determine whether supplements containing ephedra create an "imminent hazard" to public health in our nation, and whether sale should be restricted or regulated to protect consumers, including a ban on sales to minors.

Legislation is also being crafted to develop a commission for scientific study to determine whether supplements or safe and whether a mandatory adverse-effect reporting system is needed.

Durbin said without further testing, the end may be near for diet drugs.

"The first thing that we have to do is establish whether these products are safe. And if they are not safe, then frankly, that's the end of the story as far as I'm concerned," Durbin said.

But supporters say more regulation is not needed.

"I would be very troubled by the idea of creating a new regulatory category as much as anything because ... it's eight years in and we haven't figured out how to properly implement this one," said Michael McGuffin, president of the American Herbal Products Association.

Fox News' Mike Emanuel and Todd Visioli contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,59252,00.html