WASHINGTON (February 28) -- Following the
death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler earlier this month, House
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-LA) and Ranking Member
John Dingell (D-MI), along with other Committee leaders, today sent a letter to
the Food and Drug Administration expressing their concern about the adverse
effects of dietary supplements containing ephedra. The Committee members
also informed Commissioner Mark McClellan of their intent to examine the safety
issues surrounding the use of ephedra products.
In addition, the Committee also wrote a letter to
the president of Cytodyne Technologies requesting information regarding their
product Xenadrine RFA-1, which was the ephedra-containing supplement reportedly
used by Bechler.
(Attached below are
copies of the letters sent February 28 to FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan
and Cytodyne
Technologies president Robert Chinery.)
