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Ephedra, Metabolife at Center of Criminal Investigation

Aired August 16, 2002 - 11:08   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: The popular dietary supplement, ephedra, has been at the center of debate for years, with some reports of deaths and serious illnesses linked to it. Now, Metabolife, the leading seller of ephedra, is at the center of a criminal investigation.
CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now from New York with details.

Good morning to you -- Sanjay.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Martin.

You're absolutely right. Metabolife is the leading supplier of ephedra, the dietary supplement, a huge industry, 12 million people took this in 1999. And the dietary supplement industry, a $14 billion industry, so a very large industry.

What's at issue here, Marty, is the fact that there was a voluntary phone-in system, where people could call in and make voluntary complaints or comments about adverse health effects; 13,000 of those were made over the last five years.

Now, what is of particular concern is in '98, then president Michael Ellis of Metabolife, the president of Metabolife, said that there were no health reports being phoned in, and that's what really the justice system is sort of honing in on, because it's just such a large industry. Obviously, it's raised a lot of concerns. Ephedra itself has been a -- it actually comes from an herb and has been around for a long time. People have used it in all sorts of dietary supplements -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Sanjay, this is probably a good time to remind people exactly what ephedra is, and what the adverse symptoms may be.

GUPTA: Well, I'll tell you, you know, ephedra is -- actually people call it Mau Huang. Well, it's actually an ancient Chinese herb that has been long known to be a dietary aid. And basically, it stimulates both the brain and the body, and that can be good and bad.

The good thing, it could actually cause you to lose weight.

Some of the bad things, we have a list of some of the adverse effects that you might actually see. Certainly, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, those are some of the things that people do see, nervousness, as well. You also see problems with, eventually, seizures possibly, strokes, heart attacks, even death. And that's really got the attention of people in the dietary industry, the fact that ephedra could actually be linked to some of these things. But, Marty, I use that word "link" very cautiously, because no one has proven that ephedra actually causes these things, and that's a very difficult thing to prove. Certainly, it will probably be the subject of this investigation as well.

SAVIDGE: No doubt. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, our medical correspondent -- thanks again for being with us.

GUPTA: Good to see you, Marty.

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