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Ephedra
is an herb. It
is found in many popular dietary supplements and performance-enhancing products
in the United States. Also known as ma huang, it has been used for thousands
of years in Chinese medicine. Those that use it most often perceive it as
a weight loss supplement.
Ephedra is a controversy. In
the wake of the tragic death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler,
leagues great and small are examining the herbal supplement, and weighing
in on whether it joins the list of other banned substances in sports.
Bechler Death Spotlights Ephedra
By Jonathan Roybal
MinorLeagueNews.com
03.07.03 - Twenty-three-year-old
Steve Bechler, a native of Medford, Ore., was a third-round draft pick of
the Baltimore Orioles in 1998.
Bechler made his major league debut last September. He was expected to begin
this season with the club's new Triple-A affiliate in Ottawa. Just as every
minor-leaguer’s dream lays in the big leagues, Bechler was striving
to stay on the roster in Baltimore.
He arrived at training camp ten pounds heavier than his program weight of
239. Supposedly, he had battled a weight problem since joining the Orioles
organization.
Orioles manager Mike Hartgrove acknowledged that Bechler’s conditioning
was not good. Some of his teammates observed that Bechler himself was concerned
about his lack of training in the off-season.
He was reportedly using a dietary supplement on Sunday, February 16. A workout
left him pale and dizzy. He went to the clubhouse to rest.
When his condition deteriorated, he was carried from the clubhouse to an ambulance
on a stretcher. He spent the night in intensive care and died at 10:10 a.m.
Monday at Northridge Medical Center in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
The official cause of death for Bechler was “multi-organ failure due
to heatstroke.” Almost immediately, the herbal supplement ephedra was
implicated in the death.
According to a coroner’s report, it is likely that Bechler took three
pills containing ephedra on an empty stomach the day that he collapsed. Reports
from the local media were that the dietary supplement recommended a maximum
of two pills per dosage. While a final toxicology report is pending, speculation
is that the herb ephedra may have contributed to the tragedy.
The long-running debate surrounding dietary supplements, including ephedra,
suddenly found a spotlight in the media. Speculation on the effects and hazards
of the herb began to run rampant.
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