The Simmons firm has taken an early and active role in Ephedra litigation, recovering more than $15 million for our clients.*

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Ephedra & PPA

The information on this page is provided for informational purposes only. As of 2011, the Simmons Law Firm is no longer accepting cases involving Ephedra or PPA. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact us today.

Filing a lawsuit

The Simmons firm is experienced in handling complex legal matters. If you have been harmed by a drug containing Ephedra or PPA, contact the Simmons firm today. Our prescription drug injury lawyers can answer your questions and help you file a pharmaceutical litigation. Our attorneys have helped many receive defective drug settlements.

Unfortunately, the popularity or prevalence of a drug or pharmaceutical ingredient does not mean it is safe. This is particularly true with Ephedra and PPA, which has been very much on the front lines of pharmaceutical litigation.

Note: The Simmons firm has taken an early and active role in Ephedra lawsuit, recovering more than $15 million for our clients.*

^{* Please note that recovery results vary per client. The recovery amounts in each case reflect the specific facts of that case. Further, recovery amounts in past cases are not a guarantee of future results.}

What Is Ephedra and PPA?

Ephedra was billed as a “natural” product, and as a nutritional supplement.

Ephedra was not officially a “drug” and therefore not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, but the FDA banned Ephedra on April 12, 2004. Millions of people took the thousands of weight loss and performance-enhancing products that contained Ephedra. These products included Metabolife 356, Xenadrine RFA-1, Stacker 2, Hydroxycut, Metaboless, Metabolift, Metabolite, Ripped Fuel and Herbalife.

Pheynlpropanolamine (PPA) was an active ingredient in a wide variety of medicines, including cold remedies and weight-loss aids.

If you have cold remedies in your medicine cabinet, we recommend you check the ingredients on those medicines to ensure they do not contain pheynlpropanolamine, or PPA. If you have medicines that still contain these ingredients, you should dispose of them right away.

Euphedra and PPA Side Effects

Euphedra side effects: Thousands of adverse reactions related to Ephedra were reported to the FDA, including stroke, heart attack, hypertension (high blood pressure), tachycardia (irregular heart rhythms) and death.

PPA Side Effects: A study by the Yale University School of Medicine, which was later cited by the FDA in a health advisory bulletin, showed that PPA was associated with an unusually high incidence of hemorrhagic and possibly ischemic strokes, particularly in women. As a result, the FDA concluded PPA was not safe for over-the-counter use.

FDA Warnings

Both Ephedra and PPA have been banned by the FDA.

Note: After the FDA’s advisory on PPA, most manufacturers reformulated their products to no longer contain PPA. However, e-mails continue to circulate warning consumers to stay away from certain name-brand cold remedies. According to the FDA much of this information is outdated.

CONTACT THE SIMMONS FIRM

The Simmons firm is very experienced in handling pharmaceutical litigation regarding complex medical matters. However, our practice is also experienced in handling cases involving: