By Michelle Kruse

In 2008, according to documents obtained by Sports Illustrated through a Freedom of Information Act request, the FDA received a variety of adverse health event reports from consumers using supplements. The bad reactions range from a man whose heart rate was stuck at 147 beats per minute (p. 39, PDF 1) for two hours after he took a product called Fireball Liquifusion, to a woman who experienced shortness of breath and shaky hands after using an energy and weight loss product that was sold to her out of the back room of a supplement store and that illegally contained ephedrine (p. 41, PDF 1). As noted in the FDA report, “this product appears to be readily available on the Internet.”