His doctors were puzzled, too, and kept asking him if he took any drugs that might have caused a freak reaction.

"They asked me if I took cocaine," said Smith, who also played at the University of Texas. "I've never taken any kind of drugs, not even alcohol."

There was one substance he took that winter while recovering from flu-like symptoms, but neither he nor the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considered it a drug. In fact, it didn't occur to Smith that the herbal stimulant ephedra might have been a factor until the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler in February.

Last month, a Florida coroner said Bechler's use of ephedra helped cause his fatal heatstroke, news that caused Smith to do his own investigation, which led to his lawsuit against dietary supplement maker Twin Laboratories Inc., one of 15 filed Wednesday by a group of Houston attorneys.

The lawyers already have filed one lawsuit each in state court in Houston and federal court in Georgia. On Wednesday, state court lawsuits were filed in the Texas counties of Montgomery, Tarrant, Dallas, Van Zandt, Hidalgo, Jefferson, Palo Pinto, and Titus, as well as in Bernalillo County, N.M., and Los Angeles.

Some of the suits are brought by plaintiffs claiming ephedra-related injuries and others by family members of ephedra users who died.

"Some of them are older, but most of them are very young," attorney Ed Blizzard said. "The only thing they have in common is they have been harmed by ephedra."

Young athletes, such as Smith, often use stimulants as an energy boost to enhance workouts. Others use it as a metabolism-pumping weight-loss tool.

A corporate spokesman for Hauppage, N.Y.-based Twin Laboratories said he couldn't comment on Smith's suit because he hadn't seen it, but added that the product in question - Ripped Fuel - was "safe and effective whevn taken according to instructions."

The lawyers also targeted San Diego-based Metabolife International, Century City, Calif.-based Herbalife International, Cytodyne Technologies Inc. and Zoetermeer, Netherlands-based Royal Numico NV, which faces lawsuits both as a maker of products under the Rexall Sundown brand and as a retailer at General Nutrition Center stores. Wal-Mart and a number of smaller retailers also are named in several suits.

Herbalife, Cytodyne and Royal Numico did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Metabolife spokesman Jan Strode could not discuss the lawsuits because she hadn't seen them, but vouched for her company's product line.

"We believe it is safe and effective when used as directed," she said.

Wal-Mart spokesman Tom Williams said the Little Rock, Ark.-based retail giant had not yet seen the lawsuits and was unable to talk about them.

During a news conference Wednesday, attorneys played videotaped depositions for reporters of Metabolife vice president Robert Herrmann and founder Michael Ellis.

Herrmann, who said he had taken his company's products without consulting a physician, then was asked to read the warning label on a bottle of Metabolife 356.

"I can't see it. I cannot read this small a font," Herrmann said, later explaining his laser eye surgery made it difficult to read small, all-capital letters. Using reading glasses provided by plaintiff's attorney Tommy Fibich, Herrmann managed to read the instructions, which included a warning not to use the products without consulting a doctor first.

Ellis gave the same answer for every question in his deposition, whether he was asked if Metabolife 356 was safe, whether there was testing or monitoring of the product, or even when he was asked to identify a clearly labeled bottle of his own product:

"I decline to answer that question in this proceeding based on my privilege against self-incrimination," said Ellis, who is familiar with the court system - he was charged in the late 1980s with using ephedrine to produce methamphetamine and accepted five years probation for drug trafficking.

Many makers of ephedrine-based diet aids have switched to non-ephedrine formulas in recent months as debate over the substance, which is not regulated by the FDA, has intensified. Twin Laboratories' chief executive, Ross Blechman, said last November the company's change in formulas was a "sound business decision in the current climate of escalating insurance costs, and regulatory uncertainties."

Last week, the American Heart Association joined several consumer groups in calling for a ban on all ephedra-based supplements.