As a result, the FDA has found it virtually impossible to take products off drugstore shelves even after reports of illness and injury. For example, supplements containing the herb ephedra are reputed to enhance weight loss and sports performance. More than 600 reports of illness and at least 100 deaths have been linked to the use of ephedra supplements. The herb is banned by professional football and college athletics in the United States and by the Olympics. However, the FDA didn’t act until February 2003, following the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler, who reportedly had been using ephedra products to control his weight. Bechler’s untimely death rang warning bells across the country, including in Washington, D.C., where the FDA ruled that henceforth every bottle of ephedra must carry strong warnings that the popular herb can cause potentially lethal heart attacks or strokes. In the sports world, ephedra was immediately forbidden in minor-league but not major-league baseball. The FDA then banned all ephedra products, and despite a challenge from an ephedra manufacturer, the ban was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in 2006