The self-proclaimed “Diet Queen to the Stars” was fined $60,000 on Friday for drug misbranding on her popular StarCaps diet supplement.
“Diet Queen” Nikki Haskell and her company, Balanced Health Inc., were in big trouble after the weight loss supplement was found to contain bumetanide, which is used to treat heart failure, renal failure and high blood pressure. Bumetanide also carries health risks including fluid and electrolyte loss.
The substance had previously been banned by the NFL, because it can be used as a steriod-masking substance. In 2008, six players on the New Orleans Saints, Houston Texans and Minnesota Vikings who tested positive for bumetanide sued the “Diet Queen to the Stars” for damages incurred due to the substance being detected in their bodies.
Later that year Jamar Nesbit of the Atlanta Falcons and Grady Jackson of the Saints also sued Haskell because they each received four-game suspensions after bumetanide was detected in their samples.
Nikki Haskell still holds to statements that she had no idea that the supplement, manufactured in Peru, contained the dangerous substance.
She said she had “never even heard of the product until I heard these football players were using it.” She added, “I’m still to this day shocked anything was in it.”
However, that isn’t the only twist to this case. Despite the possible negligence on the part of Nikki Haskell, the “Diet Queen to the Stars”, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Morey said the NFL has been aware since 2006 that StarCaps contained bumetanide, but those in charge did not tell anyone.
Uh oh.
Morey said that the NFL was responsible for reporting the substance to the Food and Drug Administration, but didn’t. She called their suspicious lack of action on the matter “unfortunate”.
There seems to be many an accusation against the NFL these days that the organization has continued to ignore dangers to players in order to keep those players performing well in the game.
Should these accusations be true, will there be any changes made to the NFL? We shall see.
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