Ephedra the active compound in many diet supplements and the drug that has been connected with heart attacks, blood pressure rises and even a few deaths has been the subject of much legal wrangling and controversy over the last two years. Originally it was banned from sale in the US two years ago after the FDA said that the compound was dangerous to health and put users at risk for heart problems.

However last yesr in an unexpected ruling a federal judge removed the ban saying that if the drug was used in low doses in diet pills and supplements it could have health benefits and therefore allowed its sale. The FDA are attempting to get the ban reinstated saying the judge in question misinterpreted the law and that continued sales of the drug in any dose could lead to more dangerous health complications for users.

The diet pill supplement companies that are promoting the use of ephedra say that if the FDA wins its legal challenge they would be able to ban the sale of anything that they percieved was dangerous in large quantities. They argued that hundreds of things are bad for you in large quantities such as alcohol, smoking, fatty foods and even Vitamin tablets and that ephedra should fall into the same category.

At present Ephedra is allowed to be sold provided the doses are no more than 10mg, but the legal team for the FDA are arguing that the FDA have a specific responsibility to ban drugs which may have an effect on the long term health of a person. The FDA say that the available clinical and scientific evidence on the diet supplements containing ephedra showed that they did more harm than good.

Ephedra falls into the class of a dietary supplement in the United States and for this reason extensive testing is not required by law like with substances that are classified as drugs. In the meantime while the legal battles continue, Ukmedix advises that ephedra should not be used until its health properties can be properly proven with clinical testing and the Ukmedix news team will continue to monitor the outcome of the legal battles in the United States.