Death leads to new dietary supplement legislation
Wire Services
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
SPRINGFIELD - Federal legislation inspired by the death of a Lincoln teenager would require manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements to notify the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about serious health problems associated with their products.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who helped push for the legislation, said Tuesday the bill was the final item of business in the U.S. House before Congress adjourned last week. The measure, which earlier won Senate approval, needs President Bush's signature to become law.
Durbin has sought a federal law dealing with dietary supplements ever since the 2002 death of 16-year-old Sean Riggins of Lincoln. Sean's father, Kevin Riggins, joined Durbin at a state Capitol news conference Tuesday.
A middle linebacker on his high school football team, Sean Riggins died of a heart attack after he bought pills containing ephedra, an herbal stimulant linked to other deaths, including that of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler. Sean Riggins apparently bought the product Yellow Jacket, believing it would boost his energy level and make him a better athlete.
"No parent in America should go through what the Riggins family of Lincoln faced," Durbin said, standing beside Sean's football jersey - number 51 - and a couple of enlarged photographs of the youth.
Kevin Riggins said, "It's time that these companies are accountable. It's been a long four years. It's been a hard four years."
Kevin Riggins still lives in Lincoln. He said his marriage to Sean's mother, Debbie, ended a couple of years ago, and she has moved to Minnesota.
"Call it a casualty of war," Riggins said.
If Bush signs the legislation, Durbin said, the FDA will have the tools it needs to track potentially dangerous dietary supplements and over-the-counter drugs. Durbin said he and other federal lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, are sending the president a letter urging him to approve the bill.
"Here's the point: Once the FDA has the authority to collect this information about bad results, the FDA is going to act," Durbin said. "And so some products may come off the shelves. If that happens, then the consumer is in a better position."
If the proposal becomes law, Durbin said he wants to see how well it works before deciding whether to seek even tougher federal rules on dietary supplements and over-the-counter medications.
"When it comes to stimulants, I personally feel that there ought to be testing in advance for safety and warnings that really tell people what the dangers could be associated with them," he said. "But do I want people to have to test every Vitamin C tablet that's being sold, or a multivitamin? I think that may go too far."
The state of Illinois already has banned the sale of dietary supplements containing ephedra. That law, also inspired by Sean Riggins' death, passed in 2003.
