Fda Ponders Link Between Dead Wrestlers And Dietary Aids

The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it is investigating whether the deaths of three college wrestlers within six weeks might be related to dietary supplements they were taking.

FDA officials prepared to leave for Ann Arbor, Mich., to begin questioning teammates and acquaintances of Jeff Reese, 21, a University of Michigan junior who died Dec. 9.

Agency spokesman Arthur Whitmore said they also will examine the deaths of Joseph LaRosa, 22, of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; and Billy Jack Saylor, 19, of North Carolina’s Campbell University. Both died in November.

The FDA investigation began because scientists with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “contacted us with the suspicion that there may be a dietary supplement connection,” Whitmore said.

All three wrestlers collapsed while trying to lose weight rapidly.