Poison Center Issues Alert in Wake of Teen’s Death

Prompted by the death of a 15-year-old Fillmore girl, state poison control officials issued a warning Wednesday about some off-the-shelf products that promise weight loss or enhanced athletic performance.

Rosanna Porras collapsed at a soccer practice last month and died in a Santa Barbara hospital three days later. She had been taking an herbal supplement called Ripped Fuel, which is available in supermarkets and health food stores. The officials’ warning did not specify any products.

As part of a nationwide study, scientists with the California Poison Control System have been tracking calls about bad reactions to dietary supplements since Jan. 1. While the study is not complete, Rosanna’s death triggered the alert, system officials said.

Officials of Twinlab Inc., the Hauppauge, N.Y.-based company that manufactures Ripped Fuel, could not be reached for comment. However, they have said in the past that they do not believe their product contributed to Rosanna’s death.

The coroner’s office in Santa Barbara County has not completed its investigation, but an official there has said that tests revealed no underlying disease and that the supplement may have been involved in the girl’s death.

The active ingredients in Ripped Fuel and similar products include forms of ephedrine--a stimulant often found in greater quantities in popular over-the-counter cold and allergy medications. However, critics of dietary supplements say people eager to shed pounds or play harder can get in trouble if they abandon the caution they would use while taking a medicine.

“People should not assume that any dietary supplement is safe just because is is labeled ‘natural’ or ‘herbal,’ ” said Dr. Christine Haller, a San Francisco toxicologist who helped devise the poison control system’s warning.

“Many contain active ingredients that can be dangerous to certain individuals because of their current health condition or because of medications they are taking,” Haller said. “Any person considering using one of these products should consult a physician first.”

The California Poison Control System operates from sites in Fresno, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco. It is run by the school of pharmacy at UC San Francisco.

The system issues warnings from time to time on a variety of products, from pesticide-tainted watermelon to harmful hair removers.

“The whole boom in nutritional supplements concerns us a great deal,” said Dr. Kent Olson, medical director of the system’s San Francisco division. “Many of these products have pharmacologically active ingredients that, when taken in excess, can cause really serious side effects.”

He said the system currently does not have enough data “to make anything more than a ‘buyer-beware’ statement.”

Some manufacturers of dietary supplements say that government agencies have overreacted to problems associated with ephedrine.

“It’s true that you can’t assume something is safe just because it’s a dietary supplement,” said Kevin Lawrence, a former champion bodybuilder who heads two Newport Beach companies called Bionutritional Research Group and Metaphysique. “But you can’t assume that food at a fast-food outlet is safe either.”

Lawrence contended that the kind of ephedrine in natural products is less potentially harmful than the synthetic kind in many cold medicines. He said problems linked to dietary supplements often stem from their abuse.

“You can’t legislate against abuse,” he said.

Still, the poison control system’s statement is “one step forward,” said Henry Porras, Rosanna’s father. “I hope the word is disseminated down to the school levels. It really needs to be getting down to the athletic coaches.”

Porras said coaches at Fillmore High School are to attend a presentation on the risks of nutritional supplements Friday.