Athlete's New Goal

Date: 10-04-2003 Posted by: Anabolic Info TeamUnited States

Two years ago, Jahn Bernard Smith was on top of his game. Working out three to four hours a day, he was hoping to play professional basketball abroad after graduation from the University of Houston. He had just one semester left.

Today, Smith, 24, still hasn't finished college and only plays basketball in an occasional, informal game. He takes four medications for his heart and can't do the physical activity he once enjoyed.

Yesterday, Smith, who lives just north of Houston, filed a lawsuit against Twinlab Corp., the Hauppauge-based vitamin maker. He alleges that Twinlab's Ripped Fuel, a supplement containing the controversial herb ephedra, caused heart failure, kidney failure and liver damage.

He hopes to force ephedra-based products off the drugstore shelves.

"A lot of athletes are getting ahold of this drug, and they don't know what the outcome may be," Smith said in a telephone interview yesterday. "You can't really stop athletes from wanting the edge ... but I wouldn't want anybody else to suffer and go through the things I've gone through the last few years."

Twinlab spokesman Bill Rizzardi would not comment on the lawsuit, which was filed in Montgomery County, Texas, saying he had not seen it. But Twinlab chief executive Ross Blechman previously has said that ephedra and caffeine combinations are safe when used appropriately. Citing financial constraints, Twinlab stopped selling ephedra-based supplements at the end of last month.

The suit against Twinlab was one of 16 ephedra-related cases filed yesterday by Fibich, Hampton, Leebron & Garth, a law firm in Houston. The firm is handling 100 ephedra-related lawsuits and recently has received a flood of phone calls from possible plaintiffs, attorney Russell S. Briggs said.

The Food and Drug Administration is now requiring warning labels on ephedra-based products but has not instituted a ban.

Smith's suit is not seeking a specific amount in monetary damages but is asking for payment of medical expenses and for pain and suffering.

He didn't blame Ripped Fuel until after hearing that ephedra potentially contributed to the death of major-league pitcher Steve Bechler during spring training. Bechler, 23, died Feb. 17.

Smith had started to take Ripped Fuel in 2001 to increase his energy. After getting over a cold in December 2001, he took a single Ripped Fuel pill, hoping for a "boost." Hours later, Smith said, his heart rate began to increase and he was rushed to the hospital. Doctors inserted a temporary heart pump to maintain cardiac activity. "I was real scared," he said.

Smith, who now lives with his parents, hopes to go back to school to finish his sociology degree this fall. "I hope one day I can be able to enjoy my life without waking up and taking pills every morning," he said. "And hopefully, we can get it [ephedra] off the market."