A study in dogs confirms that ephedrine weight loss supplements can kill, U.S. researchers said on Thursday, supporting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s action to ban them. The supplements containing ephedrine -- originally a herbal extract taken from a shrub and also used as a decongestant -- had little effect on healthy dogs, the study found. But in dogs that had their arteries artificially blocked, ephedrine had dangerous effects, said Dr. Philip Adamson of the University of Oklahoma.
