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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
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1 8 - 0 2 - 2 0 0 5 N.Y. couple file ephedra suit vs. NVE
The New Jersey Herald
NEWTON — Yet another lawsuit has been filed against a Green Township company that, until a nationwide ban took effect last spring, manufactured and sold dietary supplements made with ephedra. In the new complaint, filed Monday in Superior Court in Newton, Michael and Kelly Whalen, of Duchess County, N.Y., seek unspecified compensatory and punitive damages against NVE Pharmaceuticals Inc. for negligence and breach of warranty. The company marketed Stacker II, a product the lawsuit blames for Michael Whalen’s heart attack two years ago. Stacker II, the main ingredients of which were ephedra and caffeine, was advertised as a product that would enhance its users’ energy and promote weight loss. According to the lawsuit, however, it contained “a potentially lethal combination of ephedra alkaloids and caffeine” which triggered Whalen’s heart attack. “Despite the availability of a large body of medical literature and governmental publications warning of the potential dangers to human health caused by ingestion of ephedra, … Defendant NVE, in disregard of … the overwhelming body of literature, continued to sell to the public the product Stacker II,” the lawsuit states. The federal Food and Drug Administration has banned the sale of all dietary supplements containing ephedra since April. A stimulant derived from the Chinese herb ma huang, ephedra was a popular supplement among body builders and others who wanted to lose weight. It was banned after being linked to more than 150 deaths — most notably that of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler in 2003. It has also been shown to cause headaches and heart palpitations, and has been associated with strokes, seizures, high blood pressure and heart attacks. The lawsuit states Whalen took Stacker II based on the recommended dosage on the label, and that the label failed to warn of ephedra’s health risks. “The label implies that there is no risk of injury associated with ingestion of the product if the consumer does not suffer from one of the enumerated (medical) conditions,” it states. NVE, which once promoted more than 80 ephedra-containing products, now manufactures non-ephedra-based dietary supplements — including a line of soft drinks called Stinger — in a converted cheese factory on White Hall Road in Green. The company’s owner, Robert Occhifinto, served 18 months in federal prison in the 1990s for money laundering after being convicted of selling 100 pounds of chemical ephedrine to a California man who used it to make methamphetamine. He later spent eight months under house arrest for importing liquid hashish. In 2003, federal agents directed NVE to destroy $5 million worth of Yellow Jackets and Black Beauties — which a separate wrongful death lawsuit filed last month against the company claims are actually barbiturates and amphetamines, respectively. An article in Forbes magazine last year stated there were at least 30 wrongful death suits pending against Occhifinto and NVE. Kevin Kelly, an attorney for Occhifinto, said he could not comment on the lawsuit Tuesday because he had not yet seen it. |
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