Supplement Cause Of Seizure?

December 27, 1999 / 7:31 PM EST / CBS/AP

The Phoenix Suns team doctor believes a sports dietary supplement that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration wants off the market probably caused the seizure that nearly killed forward Tom Gugliotta.

"We've got a most-likely cause here certainly," Dr. Richard Emerson said in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday. "Certainly it's consistent with the other reports that we have received with other people who have taken it."

The product contains furanone, a chemical name for gamma butyrolactone. The FDA says gamma butyrolactone, or GBL, and two related chemicals have been linked to 144 serious illnesses, including three that resulted in death.

In a warning issued last Jan. 21, the FDA said GBL alone had been linked to one death and 19 cases in which consumers became unconscious or comatose after taking the supplement.

The supplement is marketed as a means of helping athletes sleep after strenuous physical activity and as an aid in muscle recovery.

It is sold under various brand names, including Longevity, Revivarant, Blue Nitro, Firewater and Invigorate.

Gugliotta told The Arizona Republic that he was having trouble sleeping and took the supplement at the suggestion of a friend.

"I didn't have any idea something like this could happen," Gugliotta said. "I nearly lost my life. You would have to be totally crazy to take it if you knew beforehand what could happen."

Gugliotta said that he had taken the supplement once before with no ill effect. But on Dec. 17, as he sat on the team bus following a victory over the Trail Blazers in Portland, he suffered a seizure while talking with his wife on a cell phone.

Gugliotta did not identify the product he used, and the Suns said Monday that the team would not reveal the product's brand name because of possible legal ramifications.

In its Jan. 21 statement, the FDA warned people not to take such supplements and asked all manufacturers to voluntarily recall them. The supplements have been sold over the Internet, in gyms and fitness centers and in health food stores.

Some manufacturers, including The Trimfast Group Inc., have agreed to recall the product. Those who have not voluntarily recalled the product have been issued warning letters.

FDA spokeswoman Ruth Welch said that because the substance is a dietary supplement, the agency can't take action until the product is on the market.

"They can go on the market without us being aware of it," she said. "The regulatory authority handed down by Congress is after the fact. It's post-market surveillance."

Emerson said that doctors treating Gugliotta were immediately aware he had taken the supplement, which allowed treatment in the hospital emergency room tht probably saved his life.

"It's dangerous stuff," Emerson said. "Obviously there are some challenges to the FDA and to our public health system as relates to dietary supplements, but really what we're talking about is illegally marketed unapproved drugs, in my opinion."

Gugliotta would seem the most unlikely of athletes to take something that would harm him. He takes meticulous care of his body.

"I won't even take Advil painkillers if I can help it because I've heard they can be bad for your kidneys and liver if you take too much," he told the Republic. "I didn't think it was anything more dangerous than a vitamin. I know it sounds ridiculous now, but that was my mindset."

In a statement released in August, the FDA repeated its warning about the dietary supplements and said they said GBL and the related chemicals 1,4 butanediol, or BD, and gamma hydroxybutyric acid, or GHB, "pose a significant public health hazard."

The FDA said GBL, when ingested, rapidly metabolizes into GHB, which is illegal in the United States except for investigational purposes and has been implicated as a "date rape" drug.

GBL, the substance that Gugliotta ingested, can cause seizures, vomiting, slow breathing and a slow heart rate, the FDA said.

Gugliotta said he stopped breathing twice after the seizure, once en route to the hospital and again in the emergency room.

"They said my heart never stopped, but I wasn't breathing," Gugliotta said.

Attempts to reach manufacturers of the supplement listed by the FDA were unsuccessful. No listing could be found for four of the companies and the phone was not answered at a fifth.

Gugliotta has continued to be bothered by headaches that were the result of a spinal tap performed in a Portland hospital. He is resting at his Phoenix home. It's not known when he may rejoin his teammates.