Will Major League Baseball Ban Ephedra?
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19 (HealthScoutNews) — The weight-loss aid ephedrine has been banned by the National Football League, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the International Olympic Committee. But now that a medical examiner in Florida has said a product containing ephedrine may have contributed to the death Monday of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler, experts wonder whether Major League Baseball is on deck to prohibit the substance. “Clearly, this was an accident waiting to happen,” says Dr. Gary I. Wadler, medical advisor on doping for the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy and a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency. Ephedrine, the active ingredient in the herb ephedra, increases metabolic rate, heat production, and the risk of heatstroke. Wire stories on Tuesday reported that the 23-year-old pitcher, who collapsed Sunday at the team’s spring training camp in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., had been taking Xenadrine, an over-the-counter drug that contains
