As grief envelops it, Steve Bechler’s family is struggling to cope with the questions surrounding his death and the debate it has sparked: Did the Medford-native Orioles pitcher die because he was taking an ephedra-laced weight-loss supplement called Xenadrine RFA-1? Did the team push him too far? Will the players and owners agree to regulate or even ban ephedra? Will the government do something?
Add another question to the list: Will his family sue?
According to Bechler’s agent Sam Levinson, Bechler’s wife Kiley has hired a lawyer to look after their legal interests and to consider possible litigation. Friends say the family’s main goal is to get ephedra off the shelves.
If the family does proceed with legal action, attorneys familiar with litigation against ephedra manufacturers say it may consider action against the following:
–CYTODYNE TECHNOLOGIES: The Manasquan, N.J.-based company manufactures Xenadrine RFA-1, the weight-loss aid Broward County (Fla.) medical examiner Joshua Perper linked to Bechler’s spring-training death.
Doctors and researchers say products like Xenadrine that combine ephedra, caffeine and other ingredients, can be especially dangerous when used during exercise. It affects the body’s ability to cool itself and pumps up the heart when it is already racing from exercise. The stimulant also masks fatigue.
“They are selling a defective product,” says Alaska attorney Richard Vollertsen, who has represented several clients who have sued ephedra manufacturers. “It’s known to cause serious health problems — heart attacks, strokes and seizures.”
A medical examiner said high blood pressure and liver abnormalities contributed to Bechler’s death, and Xenadrine RFA-1’s label includes a warning urging consumers to consult their doctor before using the product if they have heart problems and other health disorders.
But Vollertsen argues that consumers who buy a legal, over-the-counter product expect it to be safe. “A warning does not fix the problem,” he said.
— MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: The NFL, NCAA and International Olympic Committee have all banned ephedra, but baseball has no policy on the herbal stimulant.
“I’m very critical of Major League Baseball for not addressing this problem,” says California attorney John Tiedt, who has been involved in numerous cases against ephedra companies. Tiedt says he believes the result of the inaction “is the death of a 23-year-old prospect. Baseball should have known that just because it is legal doesn’t mean it is safe.”
Perhaps the main reason baseball does not have an ephedra policy is MLB’s long adversarial relationship with its union. The NFL banned ephedra soon after the heatstroke death of Minnesota Vikings tackle Korey Stringer in part because the league and its players association enjoy an amicable working relationship. Baseball’s union is far more independent, and players’ association officials have expressed reservations about banning an over-the-counter product.
Stringer’s widow Kelci has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the Vikings, arguing the team pushed her husband too hard and then failed to provide him with proper medical care. She says her husband did not use ephedra or other supplements, and ephedra was not found in his system by a medical examiner, although team officials said ephedra bottles were found in his locker.
— BALTIMORE ORIOLES: Bechler’s family could follow the lead set by the family of Northwestern University football Rashidi Wheeler, who died in 2001 during a grueling preseason drill. In a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the school, Wheeler’s family is arguing that inadequate medical care, not the ephedra an autopsy revealed was in Wheeler’s system, was the cause of death. Northwestern has in turn sued the makers of the ephedra supplement found in Wheeler’s system.
“What can be learned from this terrible tragedy is that athletes, coaches, trainers, and the public need to be aware of the dangers of excessive exercise in heat and humidity,” Siegner says.