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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]
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"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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Loans awarded in the
record-setting month include:
Public water supplies (drinking
water)
Bloomington (McLean County), $3,568,582
Bradford (Stark County), $716,000
Carlock (McLean County), $15, 315
Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency, $2,344,177
Colona (Henry County), $92,501
Crest Hill (Will County), $1,431,591
Downs (McLean County), $401,525
East Peoria (Tazewell County), $1,018,110
Glen Carbon (Madison County), $1,775,628
Hecker (Monroe County), $173,048
Hillsboro (Montgomery County), $1,562,174
Illinois-American Water Co., $2,900,458
Jacksonville (Morgan County), $770,893
Mackinaw (Tazewell County), $3,044,955
Minonk (Woodford County), $413,307
Oneida (Knox County), $875,000
Pierron (Bond, Madison counties), $545,000
Ramsey (Fayette County), $140,000
Salem (Marion County), $1,300,000
Teutopolis (Effingham County), $313,980
S.
Jacksonville (Morgan County), $435,000
Wastewater
Barrington (Lake, Cook counties), $868,237
Cary (McHenry County), $7,353,381
Channahon (Will County), $6,137,883
Fairfield (Wayne County), $381,429
Geneva (Kane County), $5,500,000
Lincoln (Logan County), $9,004,624
Metamora (Woodford County), $3,000,000
McCullom Lake (McHenry County), $2,795,913
New Lenox (Will
County), $3,800,000
[Illinois
Government News Network
press release] |
