| April 14,2005 federal judge Tena Campbell of the | | | | decongestants which often contain ephedrine in |
| federal district court in Salt Lake City Utah reversed | | | | synthetic form. |
| the ban on ephedra. | | | | Judge Campbell states that drug agencies had failed |
| Ephedra is a herb used over 5000 years ago to treat | | | | to prove that ephedra at low doses was |
| several disorders,such as asthma and | | | | dangerous,and that it lacked the authority to ban the |
| bronchitis.Because ephedra has the ability to increase | | | | substance without such proof.She calledfor the FDA |
| metabolism,and burn fat it became a popular ingredient | | | | to lift the ban on ephedra. |
| used in diet pills. | | | | The US ban on ephedra was lifted,among other things |
| About 12 to 17 million people consumed ephedra in | | | | the court clarified that the FDA must follow the 1994 |
| 1999, reports the American Herbal Products | | | | Dietary Supplement Health and Education |
| Association. The Nutrition Business Journal estimated | | | | Act(DSHEA),and can not treat dietarysupplements like |
| that sales of ephedra in 2002 were $1.25 billion. | | | | drugs or medical devices. |
| Ephedra is so powerful its safety was questioned,the | | | | According to the court low doses of ephedra do not |
| FDA removed ephedra also known by its chinese | | | | pose significant or unreasonable risk by a |
| name Ma-huang from the market in April 2004, claiming | | | | preponderance of the evidence.Companies that sell |
| that it was responsible for dozens of deaths. | | | | ephedra based products are allowed to resume selling |
| The ban on ephedra didn't affect the sale of | | | | whole herb ephedra products with no more than 10mg |
| over-the-counter cold medications such as | | | | of naturally occurring ephedrine alkaloids. |