Ephedra ban - at last

[Blondin]

I found this article interesting for several reasons:
Ephedra Ban Puts Herb Industry on Notice

"We have a tremendous burden of proof in order to take supplements off of the market," Thompson said Tuesday in announcing the ban on a supplement that has been linked to 155 deaths and dozens of heart attacks and strokes. But he stressed that "we crossed the t's and dotted the i's" so that the ephedra ban should stand up in court if challenged.

Is it just me or is there something bass-ackwards going on here?

 

[BTox]

Is it just me or is there something bass-ackwards going on here?

By bass-ackwards do you mean the burden of proof needed by FDA to get a dangerous supplement off the market? If so, I agree, and thank DSHEA for that. And Clinton for signing it in 94...

 

[Blondin]

Yeah. Sorry, I guess I didn't make my position very clear.
I find it surprising that the product wasn't withdrawn long before there were "155 deaths and dozens of heart attacks and strokes". I would have thought that as soon as there was *ANY* evidence that a product might be unsafe the prudent thing to do would be to suspend sales and conduct some tests to be sure.
Equally amazing (to me, anyway) is the fact that people are "stocking up" before the ban takes effect:
Federal Agency's Ban Spurs Ephedra Sales
Is this an indication in a lack of confidence in the FDA or an unhealthy fixation with body shape?

 

[BTox]

Is this an indication in a lack of confidence in the FDA or an unhealthy fixation with body shape?

It's an indication of stupidity in my book. The good news is ephedra sales were significantly down over the last year as news became widespread and states began to ban sales. This is the last hurrah, hopefully.

 

[corplinx]

Yes, overdosing or misusing Ephedra is bad. So lets ban it. Finally, someone has banned this after killing 155 people who misused it! Thank goodness for government telling darwinism to take a backseat to overregulation!

 

[Tmy]

The problem with ephedra makers is that they dont haven enough congressmen in their pockets.

155 deaths. Big deal.................so who wants to take a smoke break?

 

[toad]

Thank goodness for government telling darwinism to take a backseat to overregulation!

I agree! Can't we please just get the government to take care of everything? I mean, it really hurts when I have to actually *shuddering* think. OWOWOWOW....my poor little pea brain. And god forbid we should actually thin the herd of stupid anyway. Let's do see that they're protected from themselves. Won't someone please think of the stupid? C'mon! Raise the cheer. Hurray for gov't...saving sheep daily.

 

[BTox]

Yes, overdosing or misusing Ephedra is bad. So lets ban it. Finally, someone has banned this after killing 155 people who misused it! Thank goodness for government telling darwinism to take a backseat to overregulation!

It's not that simple. They have evidence that using it as directed can be harmful as well.

 

[Zero]

Some people consider any regulation to be overregulation: those people do not want to be citizens, they are happy being consumers. The point of American government is to give voice to the people, elsewise the rich and powerful become kings in all but name. The government IS supposed to look out for the interests of the people...you want the government police to arrest murderers, so of course you want the to regulate drugs that can kill you.

 

[corplinx]

The government IS supposed to look out for the interests of the people...

The federal government has two purposes, regulating commerce between states and foreign affairs. You must be thinking of some other country.

 

[BTox]

The federal government has two purposes, regulating commerce between states and foreign affairs. You must be thinking of some other country.

Are you saying the federal government should get out of the business of approving drugs and food ingredients and assuring safe manufacture, etc?

 

[Zero]

The federal government has two purposes, regulating commerce between states and foreign affairs. You must be thinking of some other country.

The government exists for money and war? You must be kidding.

No, I've read your posts, you are just ill informed, and probably an unfriendly person to boot..

 

[Blondin]

I agree! Can't we please just get the government to take care of everything? I mean, it really hurts when I have to actually *shuddering* think. OWOWOWOW....my poor little pea brain. And god forbid we should actually thin the herd of stupid anyway. Let's do see that they're protected from themselves. Won't someone please think of the stupid? C'mon! Raise the cheer. Hurray for gov't...saving sheep daily.

Yes who needs governments going around making laws that medicines or "supplements" have to be safe and effective? We should all be able to decide that for ourselves. Let the snake oil industry market whatever it wants and we, the consumer, will judge the efficacy and safety levels. If people start dying or contracting cancer or something then we'll just stop buying that product.

 

[HarryKeogh]

more people died in the past few hours as a result from smoking cigarettes than in the last 20 years from using ephedra. at least ephedra, in the vast majority of users has positive benefits...weight loss. well, smoking too, once the cancer sets in.

if the government were to ban everything that is potentially dangerous when misused there would be a lot of empty store shelves.

also see this thread
http://www.randi.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33109&perpage=40&pagenumber=1

 

[Zero]

more people died in the past few hours as a result from smoking cigarettes than in the last 20 years from using ephedra. at least ephedra, in the vast majority of users has positive benefits...weight loss. well, smoking too, once the cancer sets in.

if the government were to ban everything that is potentially dangerous when misused there would be a lot of empty store shelves.

also see this thread
http://www.randi.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33109&perpage=40&pagenumber=1

I dunno...seems like your argument is that we should ban tobacco too.

 

[BTox]

I dunno...seems like your argument is that we should ban tobacco too.

We should, but that was the topic of another thread. Ephedra has been beaten to death here, pardon the pun. The "vast majority" do not have real benefits, there is no evidence it works at all long term (more than 6 months). It is not "potentially dangerous when misused" it is dangerous when used as directed. Hence the ban.

 

[KelvinG]

I dunno...seems like your argument is that we should ban tobacco too.

Because the deaths in the ephedra cases I'm assuming happened shortly after the drug was taken, and were immediate in terms of being strokes or something like that, I can see why it would be perceived differently than tobacco.
If you could drop dead from a couple cigarettes then the FDA might step in.
However, we have a pretty fair tolerance for things that kill us over a long period of time. If we didn't, cheeseburgers would probably be banned as well.

 

[Zero]

We should, but that was the topic of another thread. Ephedra has been beaten to death here, pardon the pun. The "vast majority" do not have real benefits, there is no evidence it works at all long term (more than 6 months). It is not "potentially dangerous when misused" it is dangerous when used as directed. Hence the ban.

Uh huh...the point is that it isn't abuse that causes harm, ithe harm is inherent in use. It is an unsafe product, and our legal system has stepped in time and again to take unsafe products off the market. This is really a nonissue, since decades of legal precedant back up this ruling.

 

[corplinx]

The government exists for money and war? You must be kidding.

No, I've read your posts, you are just ill informed, and probably an unfriendly person to boot..

No, I just have read something called the constitution, you should try reading it or maybe taking a civics class at your high school sometime.

 

[corplinx]

Uh huh...the point is that it isn't abuse that causes harm, ithe harm is inherent in use.

The deaths were caused by misuse of the products. Yes, if you take high doses of ephedra for long periods of time it can cause damage to your cardiovascular system. I've never seen an ephedra based product without such a warning though.

If the problem is that the labeling isnt clear enough, why not mandate new labeling requirements versus banning a product that has been used safely for decades?

This is the nanny government in its worst form. Reacting to a media manufactured crisis and stepping in over constitutional limits to help out Joe Sixpack because hes too retarded to follow the label on a bottle of Stacker 2.