Creatine Lawsuit

“Cassandra Samuels, whose son, Matt, led the Raiders in scoring last season, is seeking $25,000 in damages, alleging the drink Farello provided caused her son to become sick and require hospitalization.”

C’mon. Hospitalization for drinking Em-Pact? I don’t even know what Em-Pact is, but I don’t see creatine mentioned here http://www.mannatech.com/USA/fod.asp?fodnumber=1017

Read the whole article and it seems this woman has a personal grudge against the coach, but there is still this scary part:

“A draft proposal of the new regulations would prohibit staff from dispensing or recommending that students consume performance-enhancing substances including steroids, androstenedione, creatine, human growth hormone, ephedra and caffeine as well as products that provide large doses of amino acids, vitamins or minerals.”

What this tells me is that if a kid is in a weight training class, or plays a sport and wants to get bigger - the coach cannot recommend that he/she take a protein supplement, a multivitamin, etc. Ridiculous.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33819-2005Jan24.html

It will get worse. We have an administration basically making it seem as if thinking this way is the right thing to do. I am sure that soon, anything that helps build muscle will be villainized by the media (if it hasn’t been already). This is amazing in a country where the obesity rate is climbing 100 times faster than the rate of people who are getting HUGE from creatine and vitamins. We live in a culture that attempts to blame everything and everyone else for anything that happens.

oops, creatine is listed in the nutritional info. But still…

This is definitely scary, but it is inevitable. As long as people misuse supplements, either out of ignorance or just because they think more is better, there will be crowds of people screaming that all supplements are dangerous. I agree with the Prof; people should just take responsibility for their actions instead of trying to blame everyone else.

Shame you can go get steroids to help, get a sex change, but if it adds muscle it must be forbidden.

Yep, I am going to have to agree with Prof X here. The administration is going to cripple what we can ingest in the next coming years…4 or so I’d say, possibly longer if we get another extreme consevative in office. Unfortunately, people like myself who are average Joe’s don’t get the benefit of taking ephedra or prohormones anymore because of this. The lady in question needs to educate herself and then re-evaluate her situation.

I can really see what they’re saying when comes to last four, though. Coffee, skim milk, multivitamins - HOW can we allow the unprincipled purveyors of supplements to destroy our athletes minds and bodies with these dangerous substances? A line has to be drawn somewhere!!

Can I still be belittled by some staff and molested by others?

Today’s Post has an update -

The coach has been suspended for the rest of the season.

Those looking to place blame need look no further than the lawyers! If there is a dime to be made, or publicity (which leads to a dime to be made) to be had the blood sucking lawyers will be there!

I heard on a talk radio program last night that there has been a recent bill passed that might change the world of lawsuits. Basically now when a lawyer takes a case and promises “no fee unless we collect” if they win $10,000 the lawyer gets 4,000 and the person gets the other 6k. With the new law the US is going to start taxing the person on the full amount. So basically w/ that same $10,000 now the US gets $4,000 the lawyer still gets their $4,000 and the person only gets $2,000. Maybe that will help reduce the lawsuits. I also heard that the lawyers will be required to tell the clients upfront of this tax.

That story makes me sick. Someone’s getting a lawsuit!

I think there is a lot of hoopla going on right now about regulation of the supplement industry, but I honestly don’t think it’s going to go nearly as far as a lot of people on T-Nation think. Yes, they are certainly going to crack down hard on steroids and they outlawed basically all pro-hormones.

But to think that they are going after creatine and the like is a bit of a stretch for the simple reason that Senator Orrin Hatch from Utah is just not going to allow it. First, he’s a long-time senator, fairly powerful and (most importantly) is on many of the key committees that would be involved in any sort of heavy supplement regulation (such as Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the Judiciary Committee). Second, since Utah is home to several supplement companies, he is very much against any additional regulation on the topic. So yes, Hatch was involved in the steroid legislation that bears his name, he has also been very clear about the fact that one of the previous pieces of supplement industry legislation he helpd crafted from 10-15 years ago is more than sufficient to “protect the public”. Hell, I’ve read more than a few items where people accuse Hatch of being a “whore” for the supplement industry (I think that’s a bit much, obviously).

So I would not say the sky is falling just yet. Of all the things on the administration’s agenda where political capital will be expended, I am not betting on heavy additional supplement regulation.

Kuz