Pubdate: Thu, 01 Feb 2001
Source: Times Record News (TX)
Copyright: 2001 The E.W. Scripps Co.
Contact:  1301 Lamar, Wichita Falls, TX 76301
Fax: (940)767-1741
Feedback: http://www.trnonline.com/opinions2/letters/form.shtml
Website: http://www.trnonline.com/
Author: Andrew Keese

FLYERS WITH DRUG SUPPLEMENT AD CAUSE RUSH AT SCHOOLS

Feel-good drugs -- legal but possibly dangerous -- that were pushed on 
Wichita Falls elementary-school campuses last week nearly destroyed a 
business' partnership with the school district, officials said Wednesday.

For years, Gymnastics Sport Center has been a part of the district's 
Partners In Education program, sending flyers home with students. The 
flyers include an offer for free gymnastics classes to students who make 
the honor roll or have perfect attendance on their report cards.

This year's flyer, however, included an advertisement for such unregulated 
nutrition supplements as Metabolic Nutrition System, Coreplex, Performance 
Optimizer System and Spark -- some containing ephedrine, caffeine, aspirin 
and phenylpropanolamine.

"People don't really know about them. People automatically think of an 
illegal substance," said Joe Cronin, owner of Gymnastics Sport Center. "The 
school district has to be real careful. . . . I've got nothing to hide. It 
is just an uncomfortable situation between the school district and myself."

The advertisement was an honest mistake, he said. He thought he had a good 
product and didn't realize he was crossing a legal boundary, he said.

School officials said they didn't initially know about the advertisement 
for the nutrition supplements and didn't approve of them.

Several parents from Cunningham, Ben Milam, West Foundation, Fowler and 
Jefferson elementary schools immediately called the district to complain 
when their children handed them the flyers.

When the school system found out, district lawyer David Gossom instructed 
principals to destroy any undistributed copies.

". . . the district in no way endorses the use of these products," he wrote 
in an e-mail to all the district's principals and administrative staff. "It 
was frankly one of those things that the owners of Gymnastics Sport Center 
did not knowingly do wrong."

But the legal consequences to the school district could be enormous if ill 
befell students who decided to take the supplements -- and the drugs they 
contain, a concerned parent said.

"(Cronin) had permission to promote Gymnastic Sport Center program," said 
Denise Williams, secondary assignment coordinator for the school district. 
"That is solely what he has been given to support and nothing else . . . He 
didn't do this maliciously. He made a mistake."

The federal Food and Drug Administration, for instance, is considering a 
ban of phenylpropanolamine after a Yale University study linked it to 
strokes accompanied by bleeding and hemorrhaging in brains.

Ephedrine has also raised a fuss in the medical community in recent years 
after it was linked to numerous seizures, heart attacks and even deaths.

William Breland, a physical therapist with Breland-Henslee Rehabilitation 
Clinics, said the products promoted on Cronin's flyer can be dangerous, 
even if they are legal.

"We don't promote any of that stuff. We talk to people about it," he said. 
"(Elementary school) is a tender age to be talking about supplements."

Interested people should consult their doctors or nutritionists before 
using supplements like that, Breland said. A blood-chemistry test would be 
done in an ideal situation, he said.

Several members of the successful Wichita Falls High School Coyotes 
football team used the Metabolic Nutrition System this year, but only with 
their parents' knowledge and consent, he said.

"If the kids are in our programs and are exposed to us, we are available to 
them to give them a neutral person's opinion -- because we are not making 
any money off it," Breland said. "The burden is on them to make the 
decision. We would not counsel a high school student without a parent's 
consent."

But just because some people approve of the use of Metabolic Nutrition 
System, that doesn't mean it gives the athletes an advantage, he said.

"They didn't lose their playoff game because the other team was taking 
better nutritional supplements," Breland said. "They got beat because they 
got whooped."

Having a good, balanced diet is best for a body, he said.

Cronin's advertisement boasted the advantages of taking Metabolic Nutrition 
System, Coreplex, Performance Optimizer System and Spark. One of the 
supplements is supposed to help with losing weight, another is touted as 
improving attention spans, one claims to improve athletic performance and 
another simply provides a boost, said the advertisement sent home with the 
children's report cards.

"There are safe limits to take," Cronin said. "If you are going to take 
something and you are not sure, seek medical advice. If anyone has a 
problem or a question, I would recommend that. I find the recommendation on 
the packet to be sufficient."

His own 7-year-old daughter and wife take many of the supplements, he said.

"I'm not going to give something to their child that will affect their 
long-term health. It is a gray area," Cronin said of the ad. "I know we all 
want to be on the same page. We just want to do what is best for the 
children. That is what it is all about."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens