Prepared Witness Testimony

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce

Issues Relating to Ephedra-containing Dietary Supplements.

Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection
July 24, 2003
09:30 AM
2123 Rayburn House Office Building 

Mr. Adolpho A. Birch III
Counsel for Labor Relations
National Football League
280 Park Ave
New York, NY, 10017

The National Football League would like to thank the Subcommittees for inviting us to participate in this hearing on ephedrine. We greatly appreciate the opportunity to share with you our thoughts and concerns on ephedrine and related products in the athletic environment.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE NFL'S STEROID POLICY

The National Football League and NFL Players Association have long been committed to ensuring that our sport is not tarnished by the influence of steroids and other performance-enhancing substances. We are guided in this respect by three principles:

• First, these substances threaten the fairness and integrity of the athletic competition on the playing field and could potentially distort the results of game and League standings. Moreover, the use of certain substances by some players without consequence might lead other players to believe that they must use them as well in order to remain competitive. This concern arises not only with respect to steroids, but also with respect to ephedrine and other stimulants, which some players believe will provide a boost or "edge" in competition.

• Second, the League has serious concerns about the adverse health effects of these substances on our players. There is a growing body of medical literature linking their use to a number of physiological, psychological, orthopedic, reproductive and other serious health problems.

• Third, the NFL takes very seriously its role in educating and providing guidance to young athletes and youth generally. When young athletes see players that they admire using these substances, their desire to use such products increases dramatically. When combined with their still-developing judgment, young athletes face even higher risks than professional athletes. As role models, the NFL and its players must be concerned with such unintended consequences.

Adhering to these principles, in 1989 the NFL became the first professional league to implement a comprehensive program of steroid testing, discipline and education. The key provisions of our policy are:

• Unannounced annual and random testing of all players both in and out of season;

• A list of more than 70 prohibited substances including anabolic steroids, steroid precursors, growth hormones and stimulants;

• Mandatory 4-game suspension without pay upon first violation; and

• Strict liability for players who test positive-violations will not be excused because a player was unaware that a product contained a banned substance.

The consistent application of these core tenets has resulted in the NFL's policy being considered the most effective in professional sports.

EPHEDRINE POLICY

In late 1999, the League received reports from Clubs of incidents involving the use of ephedrine. In one case, a player who had apparently used ephedrine had a seizure that required medical intervention. Following that incident, our medical advisory board began to review the available medical and scientific literature on ephedrine. Based on that initial review, we issued a health warning on ephedrine during the 2000 season and developed an educational program to provide more information.

In July 2001, following the tragic death of one of our players, we undertook a comprehensive review of the potential links between ephedrine use and heat illness, which is a focus of NFL Clubs during preseason training camp conditions. From that investigation we concluded that the risks of ephedrine outweighed its uncertain therapeutic benefit and that swift action was needed to protect the health and safety of our players and the competitive integrity of NFL football.

As a result, on September 26, 2001, the NFL became the first professional sports league to ban the use of ephedrine and other related stimulants. (A press release announcing the ban is attached.) After implementing an extensive player education program and resolving a number of logistical issues, we began testing for these substances during the 2002 preseason. Players testing positive for ephedrine are now subject to the same discipline as those testing positive for any other banned substance.

EPHEDRINE AND DIETARY SUPPLEMENT REGULATION

As an organization that employs world-class professional athletes, the NFL is very concerned with dietary supplements and their regulation. In our view, athletes represent a special category of potential supplement users. Because their success is directly correlated to physical ability and conditioning, athletes are generally more sensitive to issues regarding health and fitness. Unfortunately, they are also at greater risk because of the substantial pressure to use supplements as a part of their training regimen.

Over the past decade, the number of products claiming to provide energy, rapid recovery and dramatic weight loss has skyrocketed. Under current federal legislation, so-called "dietary supplements" containing ephedrine and other stimulants can be manufactured and marketed without any effective prior research, approvals or regulation. Scientific research has shown that these stimulants can pose significant health risks, particularly among athletes engaged in strenuous activity. Equally important, basic safeguards such as testing and labeling are not adequate to guarantee that a particular product actually contains only the ingredients listed on its label.

The cornerstone of the NFL's steroid policy is that players are responsible for what goes into their bodies. Given the deficiencies in labeling practices, however, it has become increasingly difficult for players to determine which "dietary supplements" are free of ephedrine and other prohibited substances. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a significant percentage of players who have tested positive for ephedrine did so through the inadvertent use of a seemingly harmless "dietary supplement."

By taking decisive action, Congress can address many of the concerns related to the use of ephedrine by its constituency. The NFL feels strongly that governmental leadership is critical to the continued effectiveness of our steroid policy, as well as to the health and safety of the general public.

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