Excerpted from CNN, Tuesday, 27 August 1996.

Advisory Panel To Rule On Stimulant Ephedra

Washington, Kathleen Koch -- An FDA advisory panel is to announce Wednesday whether any level of the stimulant ephedra, the botanical version of the drug ephedrine, is safe to consume.

The federal Food and Drug Administration has received more than 800 reports of adverse effects and 17 deaths linked to more than 100 products that contain ephedra, also called ma huang or epitonin.

Manufacturers contend any problems can be solved with better labeling of their products, which are used for body-building, weight loss and energy boosting. The products now carry little information about the widely varying amounts of ephedra they contain.

Excerpted from CNN, Tuesday, 27 August 1996.