Question: What’s the status of the state Department of Health’s investigation of the dozens of cases of liver damage connected to use of OxyELITE Pro dietary supplement?
Answer: Months after the department first made public its concerns that dietary supplements were linked to a statewide spike in cases of liver damage, reports of new cases are no longer surfacing but the investigation is continuing.
"We already know that there’s a problem with OxyELITE Pro, but we want to know what it is specifically," said Dr. Sarah Park, state epidemiologist.
The weight loss-muscle gain supplement has been off Hawaii retail shelves since Oct. 9 and was recalled from national markets by its manufacturer, Dallas-based USPlabs, on Nov. 9 under pressure from the Food and Drug Administration.
The department has identified 43 people who had been taking various versions of OxyELITE Pro when they developed symptoms of acute liver inflammation, also known as nonviral hepatitis. Among the cases under investigation are two in which individuals required liver transplants, and one death.
The investigation is thorny, Park said, because "we really don’t have a good understanding of dietary supplements." And that’s "largely because there is no (federal regulation) right now … on the order of what we see with medications."
The last person to exhibit symptoms was reported to the department in late October or early November. In that case, Park said, she was disturbed that the patient said he had decided to take the OxyELITE Pro product because he thought the people who fell ill had abused the product, despite repeated DOH warnings to the contrary.
The Centers for Disease Control has identified a small number of cases on the mainland, but found no rate of diagnoses as high as that in Hawaii.
Park said the department plans to conduct a "case control study" to try to pinpoint what about those patients or their environments may have triggered illness. Ideally, each case will be compared with as many as five control patients who took the supplement without becoming ill, she said.
"What we find out can contribute to what little is known right now, what little is documented," Park said. "Whatever we can find might help a clinician who has to take care of a patient who develops (these symptoms)."
In addition to the OxyELITE Pro cases, the department has linked eight recent cases of liver inflammation to other dietary supplements. Park said those cases could be attributed to a normal rate of adverse reactions to consuming a product. Still, she is concerned that there are any cases at all.
Park said that symptoms of liver failure, such as a loss of appetite, are also side effects of taking dietary supplements. So it’s not far-fetched to have symptoms of liver inflammation and think the product is working, she said.
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This update was written by Sarah Zoellick. Suggest a topic for “Whatever Happened To …” by writing Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4747; or email cityeditors@staradvertiser. com.
