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Teen Who Took Herbal Stimulant Describes Nightmare

'Scariest Moment In My Life,' Says Teen About Green Hornet Experience

POSTED: 10:37 am MST February 17, 2004

A teen who overdosed on an herbal drink described his harrowing battle with hallucinations and the fight to keep a friend from swallowing his tongue while in convulsions from his own overdose.

Billy Rocha, 18, of Colorado Springs, told the Colorado Springs Gazette that he and three friends bought a 16-ounce bottle of Green Hornet Friday and checked in to a local motel to take it.

After taking one ounce of the "dietary supplement" with no effect, Rocha said they each took a second ounce and that's when the trouble started.

One of his friends stood up and then collapsed in convulsions, his lips turning blue.

“It was the scariest moment in my life. I thought he was going to die in my arms,” Rocha told the Gazette.

Rocha said he tried to keep his friend from swallowing his tongue as his spasms continued.

Rocha said he tried to make himself vomit, in order to get the liquid out of his system, but he began hallucinating.

“The sink came out of the wall and started chasing me around the room,” he said, describing his hallucination.

One of the other teens who didn't have as intense a reaction ran to a friend's home. The friend called police.

All four teens were rushed to a hospital for treatment.

Dr. Mark James was working at Memorial Hospital Friday night when the boys arrived.

He said herbal products, such as Green Hornet, are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and that makes it difficult to know what’s in them.

“I think it’s Russian roulette,” James said. “You don’t know what’s in the chamber.”


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