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San Diego Union-Tribune
A threat to market for herbal diet pills, yet industry silent The state Senate yesterday approved a ban on ephedra-based products that doctors blame for causing serious health problems and some deaths, potentially wiping out a multi-million-dollar market for herbal diet pills. Yet, despite the major economic consequences of the bill, no one spoke out against the ban, which was approved by 24 Democrats and opposed by 14 Republicans senators. The silence of the opposition was a repeat of what happened in the Senate Health Committee. Lobbyists from the dietary supplement industry did not testify against the ban at the committee hearing but instead sent a letter of opposition. The Ephedra Education Council, an industry-sponsored group, argued in its letter that the product should remain on the shelves because no clinical study has found the herb unsafe. High-profile deaths may be sealing its fate Some critics of the herbal supplement say the silence shows new momentum for a ban. "There's a growing consensus that warning labels aren't enough. And many of us are getting tired of waiting for the federal government to act," said Michael McCauley, spokesman for Consumers Union, which supports the ban. Canada, the National Football League and the International Olympic Committee have already outlawed the product. State Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Daly City, the author of SB 582 that would ban ephedra-based products, said she believes recent high-profile deaths linked to ephedra have made the industry unpopular. Earlier this year, doctors blamed the death of 23-year-old Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler from heat stroke on his use of ephedra pills. "What you are seeing is ephedra becoming like big tobacco was in the 1990s," she said. "With every famous person dropping dead from the product, many more less famous people are also dropping dead." Others believe the politically powerful dietary supplement industry, which includes San Diego-based Metabolife International, plans to mount a lobbying blitz to stop the measure in the Assembly, where the bill travels next. For years the industry, which donates generously to politicians in both parties at the state and federal government, has been able to weaken or thwart attempts to regulate dietary supplements. Last year, however, California passed a law requiring a strict warning label on ephedra-based dietary supplements and banning the sale of these products to minors. The federal government is currently considering tougher regulations for ephedra-based precuts. Randy Pollack, lobbyist for the American Herbal Products Association, said he plans to testify against the bill when it comes up in the Assembly Health Committee. The herbal products association, which includes Metabolife, isn't arguing specifically about ephedra, he said. Instead, it is urging California to wait until the federal government has concluded it's study of ephedra-based products. "There's a concern that if California bans ephedra today, it will be gingko or something else tomorrow," he said. "We worry that California isn't undergoing the necessary scientific study." Ephedra is a naturally occurring herb put into products people take to lose weight or enhance athletic performance. These products are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration because of a 1994 law that classifies them as foods, not drugs. Ephedra is a stimulant that revs up metabolism and can increase body temperature. Scientific studies, including one published in the New England Journal of Medicine, have blamed the herb for causing heart attacks, strokes and scores of deaths. Several makers of ephedra-based pills are now promoting non-ephedra substitutes. Metabolife, which continues to make the top-selling ephedra product, Metabolife 356, began offering an ephedra-free product in December. Representatives from Metabolife did not return calls seeking comment about the legislation yesterday, Speier said California legislators don't need to wait for the federal government because they have a duty to protect the health of California residents now. Studies, she said, have already proved the product to be dangerous. "I don't know how many more deaths we need before we take this product off the shelves," she said. "We now have more than a hundred." Among local state senators, San Diego Democrats Dede Alpert and Denise Ducheny voted for the ban. Republicans William Morrow of Oceanside and Dennis Hollingsworth of La Mesa voted against the ban. Separately yesterday, Metabolife was among 18 ephedra supplement companies named in a proposed federal class-action lawsuit that seeks to have the products removed from the marked. Attorney Kenneth B. Moll said the suit, filed in federal court in Chicago, is the first to seek to represent all U.S. consumers who have been injured by the herbal supplement. Metabolife spokeswoman Jan Strode said the company does not comment on pending litigation. |
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