Friday, November 16, 2001
Stringer may have used dietary supplement
The Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Korey Stringer, on the morning of his last practice with the Minnesota Vikings, might have taken a dietary supplement with ingredients that can increase heart rate and blood pressure and contribute to dehydration, according to a published report.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported in its Friday editions that the information came out at an early October meeting between the Vikings and the Occupational Safety and Health Division of the state Department of Labor and Industry.
At the meeting, team officials said dietary supplements were found in Stringer's locker on July 31, OSHA spokesman James Honerman told the newspaper.
The information about the dietary supplement was unrelated to OSHA's investigation of Stringer's death, Honerman said. State investigators later concluded the Vikings didn't violate safety standards on July 30 or July 31, when Stringer became ill.
The native of Warren, Ohio, and former Ohio State player collapsed at the team's training camp on July 31 after he and teammates practiced in temperatures that reached the low 90s. Paramedics took Stringer to a Mankato hospital, where he died the next morning.
Team sources that asked to remain anonymous told the Pioneer Press an empty bottle of a supplement called Ripped Fuel was found in Stringer's locker at the Vikings training facility. A teammate told team officials he saw Stringer take two of the capsules before the morning practice session on July 31, the team sources said.
Autopsy and toxicology reports haven't been released at the family's request. Dr. David Knowles, a Mankato doctor who supervises the team's training camp, said in August they showed small traces of caffeine.
Knowles said then not all supplements would be traceable but that the tests are comprehensive enough to determine whether there was any significant drug use.
Ripped Fuel's label says it contains Ma Huang extract (ephedra alkaloids) and guarana extract, which produces caffeine. Caffeine can act as a diuretic, meaning it increases urination and the loss of fluids.
Stringer's wife, Kelci Stringer, and his parents last week said they planned to sue the Vikings for negligence in his death. They said they would file the lawsuit after the NFL season ends and seek $100 million in damages.
Asked for comment on the supplement matter, James Gould, a spokesman for Kelci Stringer, told the Pioneer Press: “The toxicology report was clean and at the end of the day that will be proven. The Vikings are grasping at straws and this shows how unsupportive they have been and evidently will continue to be.”
The Food and Drug Administration has warned consumers since 1997 about dietary supplements that contain ephedrine, which can adversely raise heart rate and blood pressure. Ephedrine is also known as ephedra, Ma Huang, Chinese ephedra and Ma Huang extract.
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Stringer may have used dietary supplement
