Senate Committee Says Metabolife Knew About Ephedra Complaints
October 9, 2002
A Senate subcommittee concluded Tuesday that Metabolife International Inc., a leading herbal supplement seller, intentionally hid consumer complaints about its products from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) during the 1990s. Last August, the FDA asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into allegations that the company lied about the safety of ephedra. Before the investigation began, however, Metabolife, in a move investigators called "disingenuous," turned over 13,000 health complaints involving its ephedra-based weight loss pills. Dozens of grievances reportedly mentioned death or serious illness.
According to FDA Deputy Commissioner Lester Crawford, the administration had been attempting for several years to gain access to the thousands of health complaints sent to Metabolife. The company allegedly told the FDA numerous times in the late 1990s that it had "never been made aware of any adverse health events by consumers of its products." Congressional investigators determined that the reports clearly "contradicted Metabolife's claims."
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
More ...
- Justice Department to Investigate Metabolife over Ephedra
- Bush Administration Orders New Study of Ephedra
- Citrus Aurantium (Synephrine)
.