In a report from the Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH), retailers with embargoed OxyElite Pro products in their possession were advised that the department would soon begin collecting the products for destruction. On Monday, all retailers currently storing the embargoed product were asked to surrender their supplies voluntarily. The request comes not long after a voluntary recall that was made by USP Labs (the manufacturer of OxyElite Pro), which was acting in cooperation with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the DOH.
Health Director L. Fuddy stated that, “The department’s ongoing disease investigation has associated OxyElite Pro with 36 cases of liver damage and acute hepatitis in Hawaii…The department is taking this step to prevent further illness and protect Hawaii residents and visitors, and may take more stringent legal action if needed.” The DOH’s investigation of OxyElite Pro has been ongoing since September 24th of this year, at which time the department began looking into the multiple cases of liver failure and acute hepatitis found in some individuals who were said to be using the pre-workout supplement. The investigation has since revealed 36 cases of liver failure and / or acute hepatitis among some users of OxyElite Pro, the supplement being the only common factor among the suffering patients.
More information about OxyElite Pro can be found here.
Although OxyElite Pro has not been officially identified as the cause of the liver damage, it is nonetheless being pulled from shelves in Hawaii. In fact, after requesting Hawaii retailers and distributors to voluntarily pull the product from shelves in early October and subsequently receiving several indications that the product would remain on shelves despite the request, the DOH decided to issue a mandatory embargo. What the DOH found during the embargo process is as follows:
- 160 retailers nationwide had inventory of OxyElite Pro
- 329,509 total capsules were inventoried
- 8,342 ounces of powder were pulled from shelves
The investigation into OxyElite Pro is ongoing. The DOH has advised that all users of nutritional supplements for workouts, body building, or weight loss speak with their health care providers. Individuals who’ve used OxyElite Pro have also been warned to seek medical treatment immediately if they experience any of the following:
- Abdominal pain
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Fatigue
- Yellow skin or eyes
If you would like to speak to a lawyer from our office, you can call The Senators Firm at (949) 557-5800.