Posted January 1, 2004

Washington (AP) - The Bush Administation is banning the sale of ephedra starting early 2004 and urged consumers in the United States to immediately stop using the herbal stimulant linked to the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler.

Ephedra has been blamed for 155 deaths and dozens of heart attacks and strokes, and the NFL, college sports and the IOC banned its use. Major league baseball did not.

The government's first ban on a dietary supplement comes eight years after the US Food and Drug Administration began receiving reports that ephedra could be dangerous.

"The time to stop taking these products is now," Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said. "They are simply too risky to be used."

Ephedra once was hugely popular for weight loss and body building. But it can cause life-threatening side effects even in seemingly healthy people who use the recommended doses, because the amphetamine-like stimulant speeds heart rate and constricts blood vessels. It is particularly risky for anyone with heart disease or high blood pressure or people engaging in strenuous exercise.

The ban isn't immediate because federal rules require certain paperwork steps that mean the earliest it could take effect would be March, 2004. But the FDA wrote 62 current and former manufacturers that, "we intend to shut you down." Commisioner Mark McClellan said.

"There are companies out there who've profited by misleading Americans about the benefits of ephedra, even as they put American's health at risk," McClellan said. "Any responsible manufacturer and retailer should stop selling these products as soon as possible."

Thompson said he was announcing the upcoming ban now so that people making New Year's sesolution to lose weight won't be tempted to try ephedra.

"Ephedra raises your blood pressure and stresses your system," McClellan added. "There are far better, safer ways to get in shape."

Critics called the ban long overdue.

Sales already have plummeted because of publicity about the herb's dangers, which peaked after Bechler's ephedra-related death in February, 2003. The Nutrition Business Journal estimates $500 million worth of ephedra was sold in 2003, down from $1.3 billion in 2002.

Three states - New York, Illinois and California - have passed their own bans. Most retail chains have quit selling ephedra containing products, and only a handful of major ephedra producers still are in business to supply Internet sellers. Even market leader Metabolife International suspended ephedra sales last November 2003, citing ambiguities in state laws.

"It's a dead product over the backs of a lot of dead people when the FDA could have acted before." said Dr. Sidney Wolfe of the consumer advocacy group Public Concern.

What is Ephedra or Ma Huang?

Ephedra is an herb that grows naturally worldwide in desert areas. It has been used Chinese herbal medicine for at least a thousand years, and possibly longer in America, where it was known in Utah as Indian or Mormon tea.