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    FDA to pull weight-loss aid ephedra from market By Kathleen Fackelmann, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it would ban dietary supplements containing ephedra from the market, the latest blow to a troubled weight-loss aid that has been under increased scrutiny since the death in February of a professional baseball player. Sales of dietary supplements containing ephedra or ephedrine have plummeted. By Rick Williams, USA TODAY file The stimulant has been linked to about 16,000 adverse reactions, including strokes, heart attacks and irregular heartbeats. The FDA said as many as 155 deaths also have been linked to ephedra, including the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler during spring training. (Related item: Q&A: Dangerous stimulant or diet aid?) Three states — Illinois, New York and California — have passed laws banning ephedra, and the NFL, college sports and the International Olympic Committee prohibit ephedra use among its athletes. Sales of ephedra products have plummeted in the past year as more reports of adverse reactions are publicized, and a number of retailers have voluntarily pulled the products from their shelves. By Matthew Cavanaugh, AP Pat Bechler, mother of late Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler, testified before a House subcommittee in July. The FDA said it would publish a rule outlining the ephedra ban within the next few weeks. The ban will take effect 60 days afterward, but Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson urged consumers to stop taking ephedra now. "I don't know why anyone would take ephedra," he said. "I wouldn't." The FDA has been trying to ban ephedra for years, but makers of dietary supplements, unlike drug companies, don't have to show their product is safe before it goes to market. Under current law, the FDA has to prove a dietary supplement poses an unreasonable risk of illness or injury. In announcing the proposed ban during a news briefing in Washington, FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan said his staff had been working hard to meet that legal standard. The agency studied not just the adverse events linked to ephedra but also relied on a Rand Corp. report earlier this year. That report said ephedra was strongly linked to health problems and found only moderate evidence that it helped people lose weight. People using these products as a dieting aid could be putting themselves at serious risk, says Augustus Grant, president of the American Heart Association. Ephedra is an adrenaline-like stimulant that raises blood pressure and can trigger dangerously irregular heartbeats, he says. There's also no medical proof the products help enhance athletic performance, the Rand report said. Mark Blumenthal, founder of the American Botanical Council, a research and education group that supports responsible use of supplements, says he doesn't think the ephedra ban marks the start of aggressive action by the FDA against other herbal products, which by and large are safe. A recent study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that ephedra products accounted for 64% of the health problems linked to dietary supplements.

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    U.S. restricts flights over 4 cities
By Martha T. Moore, USA TODAY
NEW YORK — U.S. officials will clear the skies above New Year's Eve revelers in New York City's Times Square and in three other cities as a guard against terrorist attacks.

Flight restrictions in New York, Las Vegas, Chicago and Washington, D.C., will ban flights by chartered aircraft and small planes during the celebrations, federal officials said Tuesday. Commercial flights will not be affected.

The restrictions come nine days after U.S. officials raised the nation's terror alert level to code orange — indicating that there is a high risk of an attack — because intelligence reports suggested that al-Qaeda might try to attack the USA during the holidays.

The flight limits are aimed at protecting the nation's most popular sites for New Year's Eve celebrations. About 750,000 people are expected in New York for the annual ball drop in Times Square, which city officials said will be guarded more heavily than ever. In Las Vegas, about 300,000 people are expected to pack the Strip after passing through nearby checkpoints.

Federal and local police helicopters will patrol over New York. Military jets will be able to respond quickly if needed, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Tuesday.

Ridge said the U.S. government also will impose flight restrictions for most football bowl games during the next several days, including the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., which will attract more than 100,000 people Thursday.

Like other federal and local officials, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said there had been no specific threats against his city. He said the additional security is being imposed because of the national alert. "Leave the worrying to the professionals," Bloomberg said. "The rest of us, let's go to Times Square."

The government routinely has used flight restrictions since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in areas President Bush is visiting or at major sporting events. U.S. officials say that intercepted communications among suspected al-Qaeda operatives indicate that the terrorist network that carried out the 9/11 attacks remains interested in using hijacked jets as weapons.

Flights over downtown Chicago have been restricted since Dec. 24 because authorities fear the Sears Tower could be a target. Washington's airspace has been restricted since the 9/11 attacks.

The flight limits were among a range of security measures related to celebrations in the coming days:

• In Pasadena, more than 1,000 local and U.S. law officers, many in plainclothes, will patrol the Tournament of Roses parade. Electronic sensors that detect biological-weapons agents will be used, and video cameras will watch the 1 million people expected to gather along the 5˝-mile parade route.

• In Boston, where more than 1.5 million people are expected for New Year's celebrations, devices that detect biological- and chemical-weapons agents will be in place, and extra police officers will be on duty.

• In New Orleans, there will be no public parking at the Superdome for the Sugar Bowl on Sunday. There will be a fence around the stadium, and fans will go through metal detectors.

• In San Francisco, police say that a "significant number" of uniformed and plainclothes officers will patrol the city's main New Year's Eve celebration on the Embarcadero below the ferry building. Extra officers have been patrolling the Golden Gate Bridge and conducting random truck inspections since the terror alert level was raised. The Coast Guard has increased air and water patrols in San Francisco Bay.

• In New York, police will bar traffic from a 32-square-block area to accommodate Times Square revelers, who will pass through metal detectors to get into the restricted zone. Among the thousands of officers in the area will be 1,365 rookies who graduated Tuesday.

Barricades were moved into Times Square on Tuesday. Tourists planning to brave the cold scouted locations. Hazel Campbell, visiting from Glasgow, Scotland, said she had been a "wee bit apprehensive" about her trip. But, she said, "There can be threats anywhere. You've just got to be cautious and hope that the security is what it should


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