FDA To Destroy Seized LG Sciences Products
The article speaks for itself…
FDA has received a consent decree from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, to destroy prohormone products worth $1.3 million. The decree included more than 23,300 bottles of three products distributed by LG Sciences LLC, of Brighton, Mich., marketed for use by body builders and distributed on the Web and at retail under the names “Methyl 1-D,” “Methyl 1-D XL,” and “Formadrol Extreme XL.” On behalf of FDA, U.S.Marshalls seized the products back in early April 2008, but the company was fighting the action, saying the products were DSHEA-compliant.
FDA said lab tests showed the products, which were marketed as dietary supplements, contain one or more unapproved food additives and/or new dietary ingredients (NDIs) and lacked scientific support for safe use. They found Methyl 1-D and Methyl 1-D XL contained 1,4,6-androstatriene-3,17-dione, also known as “ATD” or 1,4,6-etioallocholan-dione; Formadrol Extreme XL contained ATD and 3,6,17-androstenetrione, also known as “6-OXO”—the substance at the center of the legal battle between suspended Phillies pitcher J.C. Romero and several supplement makers and retailers.
FDA stated both of these substances are steroids that inhibit the activity of the enzyme aromatase; they can be found in dietary supplements marketed as testosterone boosters. Also, 6-OXO was created by Patrick Arnold, the chemist behind many of the BALCO products involved in the Major League Baseball steroid scandal, which involved Barry Bonds and other key players.
Looks like it’s gonna be curtains for both 6-OXO and ATD, which are in a fair number of bodybuilding supps – not just the ones discussed above. I suspect LG Sciences was a test case…now the FDA now has a green light to make additional seizures.
Beyond that, I suspect the move against 6-OXO and ATD means the agency intends to be far more aggressive about steroid-based supps in general. This is something I definitely have mixed feelings about. On the one hand, I have little good to say about many of the Superdrol/Halodrol etc. clones that have crept on the market in the wake of the prohormone ban…yes, some of ’em do work, but there is very little known about their long-term health and safety. And – philosophically-speaking – I don’t think supp companies have the right to use their customers as guinea pigs.
On the flip side, while there may be some benefits from a pure health/wellness standpoint, it’s NOT good from a societal one. In essence, the current attitude about bodybuilding supps can be summed up as: “if it works well, it has to come off the market, since – even if it appears to be relatively safe (like – ironically – 6-OXO and ATD) – it’s still suspect”. After all, athletes will use it to cheat, and gawdferbid if the kiddies get their hands on it. The last argument is always the clincher…the fact that kids can get their hands on all kinds of deadly OTC stuff (like Tylenol and Flintstone vitamins) never seems to register w/these folks. And it goes without saying that there isn’t enough law enforcement in the world to prevent drugs/gray-area supps from appearing on the black market. My daughter knows kids who regularly smoke marijuana – to use an obvious example. The fact that it’s illegal isn’t a deterrent.
It all amounts to a huge, expensive, complicated game of whack-a-mole. Guess we’ll see how the current round plays out…
May 13, 2009
The FDA’s seizure of LG’s products is another blow against freedom. The FDA is at the forefront of stealing liberty and using gestapo tactics to intimidate and imprison those with whom it disagrees. There is nothing good about the seizure of products intended for voluntary exchange. It is too bad that many fools will actually believe that the FDA is acting to protect the public when nothing could be further from the truth.