Metabolife Lawsuit and Side
Effect Information

Metabolife Overview

Michael Ellis founded Metabolife International Inc. in 1995 and began marketing dietary supplements that were supposed to boost energy and burn fat. While the company's best-selling product, Metabolife 356, may have done both of those things, many people found out the hard way that the pills were potentially deadly.

In the meantime Ellis became a millionaire, even as thousands of complaints were sent to his company. Rather than admit his diet drug had problems, Ellis wrote to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1998 claiming his Metabolife 356 had no health complaints. He said the same thing in 1999.

The reality was the company received over 14,000 complaints from 1997 to 2002. The complaints contained 18 heart attacks, 43 seizures, 26 strokes and five deaths. Many of the people who complained chose to file a Metabolife lawsuit.

Users of Metabolife 356 were starting to find out the ingredients that caused such serious reactions - ephedra (derived from an Asiatic shrub) and caffeine, an extremely potent mixture. Ephedra is the herbal cousin to the stimulant ephedrine that increases the heart rate, depresses appetite and usually causes users more than a few sleepless nights. Ephedrine is the major ingredient in methamphetamine.

Metabolife Side Effects & Other Problems

Metabolife side effects may include dizziness, nervousness, high blood pressure, tremors, elevated heart rate, headaches, stomach problems, heart attacks, hepatitis, strokes, seizures, psychosis and death.

The major problem with dietary supplements such as Metabolife is the FDA does not regulate them as drugs. In fact herbal supplements are regarded as food, not drugs, thanks to Senator Orrin Hatch. (Dietary supplements were deregulated in 1994.) Most often, classification as a dietary supplement is determined by the information that the manufacturer provides on the product label or in accompanying literature, although many food and dietary supplement product labels do not include this information.

Overlooking ephedra as a "drug" was one of the government's biggest mistakes. One that many people paid for by experiencing health problems resulting from Metabolife side effects. Metabolife and similiar supplements containing ephedrine were pulled from the shelf in 2001.

Metabolife Lawsuits

The first Metabolife lawsuits hit courts in 2002. Among others things, company CEO Michael Ellis was charged with lying to the FDA about not receiving complaints. Subpoenaed to find out if he put "sales (of his drug) above safety", Ellis pleaded the Fifth Amendment.

Things caught up with him in 2004 when he finally pled guilty in federal court to making false statements to the FDA. Ellis was sentenced in January 2008 to serve six months in custody and pay a fine of $20,000. Metabolife filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005.

Metabolife still exists, but is under new management. They still offer products such as Metabolife Caffeine Free, Metabolife Ephedra Free and Metabolife Starch Buster, plus a few other new products with a 21st century twist.

If you or a loved one has been harmed by Metabolife side effects, contact an experienced attorney to evaluate your case for filing a Metabolife lawsuit.




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