Ephedra in the News Again : Company Illegally Adds to Supplements
Ephedra, the “natural” stimulant substance that was found so prominently in so many diet and health and fitness supplements for fat loss and muscle building in years past, and has since been banned by the FDA for unnecessary and substantial risk of bodily harm, is sort of in the news again today.
A health and nutritional company that was on the rise for selling many body building and health products, is now being indicted for a federal investigation for some allegedly very shady dealings, including marketing diet supplements that contain the banned ephedra stimulant.
The company is called Hi-Tech, and prosecutors are alleging that the owner and most of the employees engaged in activity ranging from shady business dealing to criminal activity. That criminal activity? Allegedly, the discussed killing and FDA agent who was investigating the business to try to squash the building case against them. I know, bad, bad stuff, huh?
Not only that, they also are accused of running online pharmacies that said their drugs were from Canada but were in fact manufactured in a second rate, unsanitary warehouse in Belize. Add to their repertoire the fact that ephedra, the banned substance here in the US was secretly included in some of their products, as well as prescription drugs without disclosure on the labels, and you’ve got one all-around criminal operation!
The company of course has pleaded not guilty on all charges, but to me, it sounds like they’re fighting a losing battle, with all the counts against them. I actually had to take a medicine with ephedra in it yesterday, I didn’t have any cold medicine of my own at work, and had to borrow a Sudafed from a coworker.
That stuff is very scary, at least for my body. It speeds my heart rate up so fast, and at one point, I felt almost like I was having a panic attack, my heart was pumping so fast.
Needless to say, I’d really like to stay away from ever taking the substance ephedra again, even if it is for a cold or allergy medicine, which is legal for it to be in.
