Ephedra importer sues as FDA appeal approaches

By William Murphy

Published on May 04, 2006

Emax Enterprises' lawsuit, filed April 21 in the U.S. District Court of Utah, seeks repeal of the federal ban on ephedra and return of its shipment of products containing 10 milligram doses of ephedrine alkaloids, confiscated at the Salt Lake City International Airport by customs agents. The suit, citing an April 2005 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell (Utah), argues that the FDA acted unlawfully when it enforced its 2004 ban on ephedra.

Campbell ruled that the FDA had wrongly regulated ephedra as a drug and not a food in a suit brought by supplement company Nutraceutical against the FDA ephedra ban. The ruling allowed Nutraceutical to continue sales of its products containing 10 milligrams or less of ephedra.

The FDA maintains that the Campbell decision applies only Nutraceutical and its products. The FDA's appeal of Campbell's ruling will be heard May 8 in the Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Denver. Nutraceutical has chosen not to resume sales of its products until after the FDA's appeal has been decided.

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