LETTER
Correction: The Relative Safety of Ephedra Compared with Other Herbal Products
5 August 2003 | Volume 139 Issue 3 | Page 235
In its Discussion section, an article on the relative safety of ephedra (1) stated, "Some industry experts claim that ephedra is safe and note that the number of adverse reactions reported among users of ephedra may not be greater than the background rate of events in the population." The reference provided for this sentence was a document presented in August 2000 at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Public Meeting on the Safety of Dietary Supplements and subsequently published by the Ephedra Education Council (2). This document, however, contained no explicit statement regarding the safety of ephedra.
1. Bent S, Tiedt TN, Odden MC, Shlipak MG. The relative safety of ephedra compared with other herbal products Ann Intern Med. 2003;138:468-71. [PMID: 12639079].[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. Kimmel SE. Summary of incidence of seizures, strokes, and myocardial infarctions in the population and estimations of risk in the population from ephedra products. Presented at the Department of Health and Human Services Public Meeting on the Safety of Dietary Supplements Containing Ephedrine Alkaloids, August 2000. Submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Docket No. 00N-1200. Washington, DC: Ephedra Education Council; 2002. Accessed at http://www.ephedrafacts.com/2.html on 25 June 2003.
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