Dietary Supplement Jack3d — Is it Safe?

The safety of dietary supplements is a frequent subject of debate — one which has, in fact, been discussed on this site numerous times and gotten much publicity, including in a recent piece on the popular news show Rock Center on NBC.

Recently, the parents of a soldier who died after taking the supplement Jack3d sued the product’s maker as well as the GNC Corp. store that sold it to him, claiming both companies knew that the product contained a potentially deadly supplement (dimethylamylamine – DMAA), but continued to sell it anyway.  DMAA is a stimulant that narrows blood vessels and arteries.   (Sparling v. USPLabs LLC, No. 37-2013-00034663-CU-PL-CTL (Cal., San Diego Co. Super.filed Feb. 13, 2013).)

In this tragic case, a 22 year old soldier purchased Jack3d at a GNC store on his military base.  The product was advertised as a safe way to build muscles.  After taking the recommended dose before beginning a moderate workout with his unit, the soldier began having cramps halfway into his workout.  He then started convulsing and lost consciousness.  He was pronounced dead from hyperthermia and cardiac arrest about two hours later.

There have been a handful of other deaths — one military and a couple civilian — of people who had taken Jack3d.

As discussed before on this site, dietary supplements are not treated as drugs by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and therefore do not require  FDA approval.  But, the products’  labels must be truthful and the producers of the products must comply with good manufacturing processes.

Despite warning letters sent in 2012 to several manufacturers to stop selling products containing DMAA, Jack3d continued to be sold.  DMAA is not an approved dietary ingredient. The FDA said there is “inadequate information to provide reasonable assurance that such ingredient does not present a significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury.”  The letter also said that under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act DSHEA, dietary ingredients must be natural, but the DMAA used in these supplements was synthetically produced in a lab.

USP Labs and GNC Corp. argue that the synthetic ingredients meet the Act’s requirements as long as they are the equivalent of the botanical, and refused to stop selling Jack3d.

Herndon athlete and attorney Doug Landau is shocked by the behavior of these companies.  “They are flying in the face of federal law by not paying attention to the FDA’s warning letter. Although a warning letter does not carry the same weight as an actual law, I think these companies have an ethical obligation to pull a product whose safety is questionable,” says Doug.

Lawyer Landau always encourages his friends, family, colleagues, clients, and fellow athletes to stay away from supplements and products claiming to improve performance.  Stay natural, do not put into your body something whose name you can not pronounce!  At the very least, if your athletic training requires dietary supplementation, do so under the supervision of your doctor.

If you or someone you know has been harmed by a non-prescription supplement and there are questions as to what laws apply, email or call Abrams Landau, Ltd. at once (703-796-9555).  Do not delay because there are strict time limits for claims involving defective, dangerous or tainted drug products and supplements.