Supplements send thousands to the ER each year

When former NBA star Lamar Odom ended up in a Las Vegas area emergency room, news reports pointed to potentially tainted “herbal Viagra” supplements as a possible cause. Now a new study shows that Odom is far from alone in falling ill from suspect supplements.

The study, released earlier this week by a team of researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), show that more than 23,000 annually end up in emergency rooms after taking supplements, according to NBC News. More than half of the ER cases were related to supplements marketed for weight loss or for energy boosting. The most common symptoms were chest pain, palpitations, or rapid heart beat.

Young adults and teens appear to be especially at risk. More than twenty-five percent of the ER visits involved people between 20 and 34 years old. The study found that overall supplements led to more ER cases than prescription stimulants.

In fact, the FDA has warned that their testing has shown many supplements may be tainted with unlabeled stimulants that should only be available by prescription.

But the CDC researchers noted that supplements are marketed with no requirements for tracking adverse effects. They believe their findings likely underestimate the actual toll of supplement-related health problems.

In response to the study, a supplements industry spokeswoman stated that given the large numbers of Americans who use supplements, the research reinforces their track record of safety.