LDN - Top Stories

Wednesday, Oct. 9

Local authorities still searching
for clues in 16-year-old’s death

[OCT. 9, 2002] True or false: All-natural herbal products can’t hurt you? They’re all-natural, so they must be safe, right? If the FDA lets them on the shelf with no restrictions as over-the-counter drugs, they won’t hurt you, right? As the Lincoln community now knows too well, the answer is clearly, "No." Herbal products can hurt you.

On Tuesday, Sept. 3, a 16-year-old Sean Riggins, a Railer wrestler and football player, died at Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital. The young man showed no signs of illness until the weekend before his death. He began the weekend just not feeling well — a little flu or something.

It was not until after Riggins’ death that it came to light he was taking the herbal dietary supplement Yellow Jackets to improve his athletic performance. These Yellow Jackets are not to be confused with the street drug yellow jackets.

The herbal compound contains the active ingredient ephedrine, with caffeine added as an accelerant. All across America you will find ephedrine combined with other herbs as diet, energy enhancers and body builder products. They sit enticingly at checkout counters screaming at you in exciting bold colors: "Boost your energy"; "Enhance your performance"; "Lose weight fast."

The FDA currently regulates labeling on dietary supplements. In ’97 the FDA proposed safety measures moderating the packaging and labeling of ephedrine products. Product labels recommended a limit of three 8 mg doses to be taken a minimum of six hours apart for a maximum 24 mg per day. Labels also caution not to use if pregnant or under a doctor’s care, as well as warning of possible side effects.

Dr. Michael Friedman, deputy commissioner of food and drugs, said, "Consumers should be aware that just because a product is labeled ‘natural’ or from an herbal source, it is not guaranteed to be safe. The effects of ephedrine alkaloids are potentially powerful ones. We urge people to talk to their doctors before using dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids, and to always use them with caution."

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Ephedra, commonly known as ephedrine, ma huang, sida cordifolia and epitonin, is made from plant leaves of ephedra, a shrub-like plant. The extracted alkaloids ephedrine and pseudoephedrine provide the active ingredients for medicinal products. Ephedra acts like amphetamines as a powerful stimulant on the heart and nervous system. It increases blood pressure and dilates blood vessels and has been associated with heart problems.

The FDA tracks reports of adverse affects associated with over-the-counter products. Adverse reports received on ephedrine range from "nervousness, dizziness, tremor, alternations in blood pressure or heart rate, headache, gastrointestinal distress to chest pain, myocardial infarction, hepatitis, stroke, seizures, psychosis and death."

It is not known the amount or frequency or manner that Riggins consumed this product. As Logan County Coroner Chuck Fricke said, "Did he take it on an empty stomach? Did he stop it (abruptly) when he didn’t feel well that weekend?" Other factors include the additional consumption of a synergistic substance, such as caffeine, to increase and speed the drug into the system. Did he take Mountain Dew or some other caffeine that accelerated the drug into his system? These are questions that health authorities would like to answer. It would help them understand how and why Riggins was affected.

The best sources of this information at this time are Riggins’ friends, and they’re not talking. Fricke wishes that they understood that nothing will happen to them, and they could help stop this from happening to others.

[Jan Youngquist]

Lincoln one of 31 water treatment plants receiving low-interest state loans

[OCT. 9, 2002] SPRINGFIELD — On Tuesday, Gov. George Ryan announced a single-month record of 31 low-interest loans involving more than $65 million for upgrading local drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities across Illinois. The record was for loans processed in September.

"These loans are vital to the infrastructure of Illinois communities and will help construct facilities that will assure safe and abundant water supplies and modern sewage treatment systems," Gov. Ryan said.

Gov. Ryan’s Illinois FIRST program assured full state matching funds for the federal funding provided to communities through programs administered by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Nine of the new loans will allow construction of wastewater treatment facilities; the remainder are for drinking water facilities. The projects represent $26,363,128 in drinking water loans and $38,841,467 in wastewater loans. Individual project amounts ranged from $15,315 for a public water supply loan to Carlock, in McLean County, to $9,004,624 for a wastewater treatment project at Lincoln.

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Director Renee Cipriano said that the large number of water projects is "particularly significant this year, the 30th anniversary of the passage of the federal Clean Water Act."

The IEPA has issued loans for wastewater facilities since 1989 under a program arising from the Clean Water Act. A similar revolving loan program for drinking water facilities was authorized under the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1996. Together, the programs have provided more than $2 billion in loans to Illinois projects. Funding comes from a federal allotment and state matching funds. The 20-year loans are offered at half the current bond market interest rate. Repayments go back into the program to fund new loans.

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