Bill Would Bar Uses of Ephedra

Legislation outlawing the sale in California of dietary supplements containing ephedra was approved Wednesday without debate by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough), who introduced the bill, told the committee that dietary supplements are not regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration, but that there is a “mountain of evidence now that ephedra is very dangerous” to health.

The California market for dietary supplements containing ephedra is a $200-million-a-year enterprise, but Speier charged that the industry “preys upon our desire to lose a few pounds or bulk up and look stronger.”

Meantime, she said, food supplements containing ephedra are increasingly being blamed by health authorities for “deaths, strokes, heart attacks and thousands of serious adverse effects.”

She noted that a coroner has found that ephedra contributed to the heatstroke death in February of Baltimore Oriole pitcher Steve Bechler.

Ephedra is a stimulant found naturally in Chinese herbs. It also is an ingredient of over-the-counter medicines used in the treatment of such common ailments as hay fever and hemorrhoids.

Representatives of consumer protection organizations, pharmacists, seniors and the American Heart Assn. testified in favor of the bill. No representatives of the food supplement industry or other business interests showed up to oppose the bill.

At previous sessions, other Speier bills to regulate ephedra products were heavily criticized in the Assembly by business lobbies.

A 9-2 vote on Wednesday sent the measure (SB 582) to the Appropriations Committee for another hearing before it reaches the full Senate.

Last year, Speier successfully carried legislation that prohibited the sale of food supplements containing ephedra to minors and requiring that such products contain warning labels.