The FDA Ban on Ephedra is over – Buy Ephedra legally

This is wacky. A judge today overturned the FDA ban on Ephedra. The FDA ordered Ephedra off the market in April of 2004, but now  Ephedra can be bought legally.

Judge Tena Campbell sent the Ephedra ban back to the FDA for more consideration.

Nuraceutical International Corporation is the company that sued the FDA because of the ban. Even though Ephedra has been linked to over 100 deaths they felt they could sell it without problems. Nuraceutical International Corporation said:

Yet in declaring all ephedrine alkaloid containing supplements illegal, FDA included low dose products, and in that category, relied on only one reference in the administrative record, which actually extrapolates from intravenous injection of epinephrine, not ephedrine alkaloids, and does not involve oral ingestion. The court determined that by failing to “prove by a preponderance of the evidence that a dosage of 10mg or less of ephedrine alkaloids presents a significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury”, FDA has failed to give effect to the dose-specific language of the rule.

So the judge found a technicality and ran with it. I wonder how many people will be affected by being able to buy Ephedra legally again?