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NEWS: Federal Court Strikes Down FDA Ban on Ephedra

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posted on Apr, 14 2005 @ 06:17 PM
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A United States District Court judge ruled that ephedra, a nutritional supplement herb that contains the stimulant drug ephedrine, could not be banned by FDA, a move the agency took last year. The Court found that the FDA overstepped its authority given by the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. While the FDA has the authority to remove unsafe dietary supplements under the law, it didn't meet the necessary the requirements needed to do so in this case.
 



biz.yahoo.com
PARK CITY, Utah, April 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nutraceutical International Corporation (Nasdaq: NUTR - News) today announced an important court decision that it believes will benefit its retail customers and the public. On April 13, 2005, the United States District Court for the District of Utah, Central Division, granted Nutraceutical's motion for summary judgment against FDA in Nutraceutical's lawsuit involving FDA's Final Rule on Ephedra.

Mr. Bruce Hough, President of Nutraceutical, commented that yesterday's decision "is, in our view, about protecting the public's access to safe and effective dietary supplements and in clarifying the meaning of the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). The Court's ruling clarifies the steps FDA must take to comply with the law in its regulation of dietary supplements."

Mr. Hough continued, "The Court made it clear that FDA has authority under DSHEA to remove unsafe dietary ingredients from the market. But the Court also clarified that FDA must follow DSHEA and cannot treat dietary supplements like drugs or medical devices. The Court made other important findings, pointing out that Congress intended that dietary supplements be treated as a subset of foods and, like other foods, are 'presumed to be safe.'"


Please visit the link provided for the complete story.


I take the Libertarian view on this and am against all government interference in the availability of drugs and nutritional supplements. People should be given the choice to take or not take whatever natural or synthetic chemicals they choose to.



posted on Apr, 14 2005 @ 08:21 PM
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Hmm, I'm moderately in agreement with you, but we definitely need some kind of oversight on this. I am no doctor, scientist, or pharmacist, so I need someone to tell me the risks and side effects of a drug that I may potentially use.

The FDA is, in my opinion, the most useful government agency in the USA. I don't know too much about the, uh, seedy underbelly, or whatever, of the FDA.

About Ephedra... I'm bound by law to not talk about Ephedra due to the work that I do, but I will say this - the dangers of ephedrine are real.

Zip



posted on Apr, 14 2005 @ 08:37 PM
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Consider the Reasons Why?


Aspartame was the reason Not Ephedra


Time after time big business blames smaller businesses and products to escape liability. Ephedra is one of those scapegoats, when in fact the specific problem was due to the way in which a young baseball player used aspartame products.

Vaccines not "Shaken Baby."

People were thrown in jail, so the international drug cartels can deflect liability from their poisoned vaccines, yes mercury is a poison. Remember when mercurochrome was used as an antiseptic on wounds? It was banned because of greater understanding about mercury. If your corporation is big enough, and passes enough money to politics, you can pollute the population however you want.

How long is this kind of thing going on anyway? We have had enough, and it is discrediting what was at least in the minds of people a once noble profession of politics. The FDA was created after Upton Sinclair wrote his book entitled "The Jungle." Its revelations of the conditions of the stockyards spurred people to action. Having long ago abandoned its mission in many respects, the FDA is not interested in protecting the population anymore the way it may have at one time.



posted on Apr, 14 2005 @ 11:30 PM
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.
I am with the libertarians on this one.
Don't outlaw chemicals,
make good clinically derived information available to the public and let each adult make their own decisions for themselves.

I personally don't need the government pretending it is less stupid than i am and acting as my baby sitter.

I suppose i would draw the line at highly radioactive elements or intrinsically toxic minerals neither of which are ever biodegradable into more benign stuff. They might be available under tightly controlled settings where they would not be strung out into the environment.

What i object to is when the FDA squelches or ignores clinical or reliably gathered field data on chemicals and approves something without proper or complete previsos or warnings with it.

The FDA can not be relied on to give unbiased findings.
The majority of the FDAs funding comes from large pharmaceutical companies.
It is crazy to have an agency that is overwhelmingly and yet subversively influenced by corporations making public policy and effectively laws.
.



posted on Apr, 15 2005 @ 12:32 PM
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Thank God! The FDA clearly overstepped its' boundaries and exceeded its' authority under the 1975 Supplement act. About time someone put them in their place. The current FDA is nothing more then a puppet of the Pharmaceutical industry. They do very littel in the way of protecting Americans. That is laughable.

They ignored science and thousands of years of use by man in banning ephedra. but not ephedrine hcl. Ephedrine is not dangerous if used the way it is supposed to be. If you abuse it then yes health problems can arise. And if kids are experienceing health problems when abusing it then that reaks of poor parenting. But I cna go buy all the vodka and tobacco I can carry....from the same store no less.



posted on Apr, 15 2005 @ 01:10 PM
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"About Ephedra... I'm bound by law to not talk about Ephedra due to the work that I do, but I will say this - the dangers of ephedrine are real."

at what doses? are those that have been harmed taking high doses of the stuff, or are they usinig it in moderate ways?

I've used it to help relieve respitory problems, brewed in a tea with a few other items.....and I know others that do also.....it's cheaper than the drugs I can't afford, and I Beleive that the effects of my tea are alot less than the effects of the inhalers that so many americans are dependent on. ya know what happens if you od on an inhaler? your heart goes wacky..speeds up, and well, without treatment you are in trouble. there not much difference is there, except that I can control the amount of kick that my tea has by controlling the time that my tea spends brewing, and the amount of ephedra that I put in it.
I think my tea is safer than their drugs, although the positive effect on the cold symtoms might be a little less.

oh, ya, by the way....I prefer to use natuaral plants, this might make a difference also.



posted on Apr, 15 2005 @ 01:52 PM
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Ephedra - Ephedrine: what's the difference?


Ephedra is a broncho-dilator that herbalists value as a natural and effective alternative to asthma and allergy drugs.

Ephedrine is the active constituent of ephedra.

In a 50 mg dose of ephedra (which Dr. Page describes as an "effective dose") you're getting 0.5 mg of ephedrine. But certain products that isolate and boost ephedrine (as most of the weight-loss products do) may contain as much as 20 mg of ephedrine - 40 times the amount that you get in the natural herb.


Put simply,
Ephedra = Natural Herb
Ephedrine = Extracted & Elevated Active Ingredient of Ephedra

Ephedra = 50mg(Herb form) = .5mg(Extract form)
Ephedrine = 50mg(Extract form) = 5000mg(Herb form)


So, you can see why the FDA was so interested in ummmm, peoples safety, by banning Ephedra!!



posted on Apr, 15 2005 @ 02:14 PM
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Ephedra should've never been banned in the first place. People use it irresponsibly, the media hypes the danger, and boom... it's banned. Hope it'll be back for responsible people to use again soon.



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