Editorial: No more ‘buyer beware’

Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003 | 9:30 a.m.

Amedical bulletin distributed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September 1994 raised the alarm about ephedra, an herbal stimulant and mainstay of many over-the-counter weight-loss products. The bulletin alerted the public to reported side effects, including nervousness, dizziness, alternations in heart rate and blood pressure, headaches, abdominal and chest pains, heart attacks, seizures, psychosis and death.

Federal law, however, prevented immediate action. It allows manufacturers to market dietary supplements without first having proven their safety. And it stipulates that the FDA can ban the products only after proving they endanger public health. So the FDA began accumulating evidence. By this year it had documented 155 ephedra-related deaths, including that of Steve Bechler, a Baltimore Orioles pitcher. It had also gathered 16,000 reports of adverse side affects.

On Tuesday the Bush administration ordered a ban on ephedra, which will become effective by March. We welcome the ban and believe that the federal government should investigate other potentially harmful ingredients found in dietary supplements. Congress should also change the law that makes supplements available until statistics prove them dangerous. As the ephedra debacle shows, proving a product dangerous after it enters the marketplace requires years -- and thousands of statistics otherwise known as human beings.