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Dr. Kim Mulvihill Reporting The diet aid Ephedra is back in the news today. The FDA banned the dietary supplement in 2004 after it was linked to dozens of deaths. Today, attorneys for the FDA have reportedly asked a federal appeals court to restore a ban on supplements containing even low doses of Ephedra.
Last year, a federal judge here in Utah struck down a ban on small doses of Ephedra. That was after Park City-based Nutraceutical Corporation filed a lawsuit to challenge it. The FDA is appealing that ruling.
They say the federal judge rejected scientific evidence that demonstrated that even low doses of Ephedra present an unreasonable risk of illness or injury.
Nutraceutical claimed the FDA misinterpreted the law and failed to prove that low doses are harmful. The judge agreed, and said the FDA failed to properly consider the difference between low and high doses.
Arguments were scheduled for this afternoon in the Denver-based Tenth US Circuit Court of Appeals. So the question is whether or not any amount of Ephedra -- even a low dose -- is worth the risk.
