11 February 2008 - A Danish man in his thirties recently died after having taken the weight loss product Therma Power, which contains caffeine, ephedrine or synephrine, and is banned in Denmark.
Therma Power is sold at fitness shops or over the internet and manufactured by a company called FMGH, Inc., based in Mahé in the Seychelles Islands.
The Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Århus determined that the man had a high concentration of ephedrine in his blood. He then died from a heart attack.
In reaction to these medical finsings, the Danish Medicines Agency therefore strongly warns against Therma Power and products with a similar content and characteristics.
The Agency had been receiving adverse reactions reports on Therma Power. However, this is the first time that a death has been related to the weight loss product.
"The Danish Medicines Agency and the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration have repeatedly warned consumers against taking products like Therma Power, which comes in a red and a blue variant. The red variant contains ephedrine and caffeine in extremely high concentrations and may inflict serious damage on persons taking the products. Blue Therma Power is but one of several food supplements that contain the undesirable combination of synephrine and caffeine which makes them both illegal and dangerous. The substances are contained naturally in e.g. citrus fruits and green tea, where they cause no harm. However, Therma Power contains very large concentrations of the substances", the agency said in a statement.
In addition to Therma Power, there are other illegal medicinal products containing ephedrine/ephedra on the market, said the Danish Medicines Agency, which again strongly advises against these also. They include: El Tigre, Ephedra 850, Yellow Subs, Stack II and Stacker 2 Lite. To this should be added product names containing the word "therma" or "thermo", added the agency.
The Danish authorities has communicated the warning with other medicianal and food safety bodies across Europe.