Companies Agree to Multimillion Dollar Ephedra Settlement
By Hubert Vigilla
Published on February 23, 2006
Documents filed last week revealed that Nutraquest, a pharmaceutical company based in Manasquan, N.J., will contribute to a $34.2 million payment in order to settle 138 lawsuits filed by former ephedra users or their survivors. Nutraquest still has other lawsuits pending.
Ephedra was banned in 2004 after the Food and Drug Administration found that some 155 deaths could be blamed on the herb. According to the FDA, a majority of these deaths were related to strokes or cardiac problems. A Utah federal judge struck down the ephedra ban in 2005, though many companies have been reluctant to reintroduce the formerly banned substance into their respective product lines.
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