Ephedra is totally legal for over-the-counter sale in the U.S. The truth is that supplement companies are being “forced” to “voluntarily” pull ephedra-containing products like MD-6 off the market for one reason and one reason only: insurance companies are no longer writing policies to insure companies selling ephedra. Basically what’s happening is that some ambulance-chasing lawyers are gleaning the country looking for the people who’ve had any type of negative reaction–real or imaginary. And they’re suing the hell out of supplement companies. Without insurance to cover these lawsuits, it becomes just too risky to sell ephedra. This has nothing to do with the government or the FDA. It’s lawyers and insurance companies screwing us from two different directions. Type in a search for “ephedra” on Overture.com or Yahoo. I bet you come up with a bunch of law firms paying good money to come up near the top of that search. By bringing frivilous lawsuits against supplement companies selling ephedra products, the lawyers are accomplishing what the gov’t couldn’t.
I think we need to go to the source directly, and let these law firms know that we don’t appreciate what they’re doing and we have some serious issues with the way they’re doing business.
Thank you for providing a clear explanation
of WTF is going on. I haven’t really been
following the ephedra issue, and all of the
sudden I come back and MD6 is being pulled.
I asked previously for someone to provide
an explanation of exactly what was going on,
and you are the only one who has. So thanks.
Word of warning. When you’re on the plane, and you bump into your friend Jack you haven’t seen in ten years, try not to get excited and yell “Hi Jack!” That would be, errrrr, very bad.
If ephedrine gets, banned, could people stack pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) with caffeine and aspirin as a poor substitute for E/C/A. Just a thought, if I’m dead wrong, go easy on me.
As for the airport security issue that came up, I do feel that profiling foreigners only actual gives terrorists an advantage. Jose Padilla (the guy arrested for the foiled dirty bomb plot) was born and brought up here, and I doubt most airport security would find suspect a Hispanic to be a terrorists. John Walker Lindh could have been a hijacker at a later date, and while these individuals may seem to be isolated cases, it is only takes such isolated cases to create another 9/11. Not to mention that many enemies of the United States have used the elderly, women and children as kamikaze type weapons (the Viet Cong, and Iranians using children to run paths across minefields during the Iran-Iraq war). And while the government may look at random inspection as an equal protection issue, the side benefit to their approach is that terrorists are offered no loopholes to work with (ie using womena and children).
Thanks Kenny for the info. PC still sucks shit though 
Seems to me someone needs to put a leash on these lawyers. Thanks to the now sue-crazy public/lawyers costs on quite a few things are skyrocketing (medical insurance comes to mind). SIGH!