Michael McClellan, FDA Chief and Health and Human Services Secretary
Tommy Thompson recently announced that they will order a ban on products
containing the herbal stimulant, ephedra. Very soon it will be illegal
to buy and use ephedra. The problem, they say from their "extensive
studies" is that ephedra is too dangerous for public use.
According to the FDA, one hundred and fifty-five people may have died
from taking ephedra. People are using (and misusing) ephedra for
weight-reduction and the controlling agencies believe that it is not
safe when used for that purpose. But it wasn't just the deaths that
caused this alarm, they said. "It is the totality of the evidence" from
the scientific studies that was used to make the decision, McClellan said.
Apparently, they don't have all the evidence yet that they need to make
such a sweeping decision that affects so many lives.
To support the FDA's dubious actions, the authorities are using the
grief from one family who lost a child, Baltimore Oriole Steve Bechler
whose death in February has been blamed on ephedra.
I know all about losing children. I have lost two. I feel deeply for the
family in their loss and I completely understand why they would want to
protect others from that which took their son.
But I don't think the grieving family has all the evidence that they
need either to support such an action. Ephedra has important uses
besides weight-control. It is a natural treatment for allergic asthma,
for instance. Asthma like mine.
I have severe allergic asthma that has not been helped by prescription
drugs. A host of allergists in three states could not help me and with
nothing else to offer, they advised me to move to the desert. Even in
the desert, I have trouble breathing at times and there is only one
herbal product on the market that helps me. It contains ephedra.
When I am in the throes of a severe asthma attack, I cannot breathe. If
I don't have my herbal product to reverse the life-threatening symptoms,
what will I do? Go to the emergency room at the local hospital? Forget
for a moment the cost of a trip to the ER. It's already been proven that
prescription drugs do not affect my particular type of asthma. So, in
other words, I have little hope of recovering from the next major
asthmatic attack because the cure -- the one that has worked for me for
nearly a decade -- is being taken away.
Though my particular case is severe and should be considered in the
decision to remove ephedra from the marketplace, there are probably
thousands of people who need this herb for other medical conditions. It
is just wrong to take this product off the market.
I don't think anyone would support the FDA's action if they had had all
the evidence that they needed to make a right judgment on the herb. I
want the FDA to continue to warn consumers about the potential dangers.
That is the right thing to do. But don't take this product out of the
marketplace. Lives like mine depend on it.
K. Ann Barnett is a longtime essayist, fiction writer, and
First Reader for a publishing house. She can be contacted at
kab@anv.net.
