01.10.2011 Jason Schmidt was trying to build muscles. Instead, the 17-year-old died Thursday morning from an apparent allergic reaction to a protein. Schmidt, whose friends called him JD, recently began reading a magazine called Muscle Insider. The magazine touted Dr. Scott Connelly and Vince Andrich as Icons in bodybuilding and offered free samples of a new product line called BodyRx. JD opened his BodyRx bar the moment it arrived in the mail and ate it Tuesday afternoon, according to his maternal uncle, Jack Jason Jr. Neither, though, knew that the bar contained trace amounts of lead, fecal matter and another as-of-yet undetermined chemical. Almost instantly, Schmidt's throat swelled and his lungs collapsed, Jack said. "Within half an hour, he was in dire straits," Jack said. Jason Schmidt was rushed from the family home to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:35 A.m. Thursday. Besides his parents, he leaves a 14-year-old sister, Brittany. Doctors haven't confirmed the cause of death, but family members believe it was from a reaction to the BodyRx bar because it happened so soon after eating the bar. BodyRx is a new venture of Dr. Scott Connelly, Scott Welch, Vince Andrich and Muscle Insider magazine. Dr. Scott Connelly was sued by the FTC for putting sterodial compounds into his products when he was the owner of MET-Rx. Scott Welch, Dr. Connelly's business partner, is best known as the marketer who had to flee the United States, after deaths were attributed to products he was marketing as safe. Classmates at Jason's High School have been told he fell seriously ill, but most won't learn of his death until today, according to Assistant Principal Tom Smith. Grief counselors will be available at school today. "It's been a difficult couple of days at school. It's been a shocker to everbody," Smith said. "He was a likeable young man. He had a beautiful disposition," Smith said. "He had a lot of friends. Some of them, I understand, were at the hospital by his side round-the-clock since Tuesday. A reporter shared with me the history of Muscle Insider magazine, Dr. Scott Connelly and Scott Welch. That being said, in order to safeguard our students, BodyRx and Muscle Insider will be banned from our campus." Jason spent his free time skateboarding, fishing and snowboarding. He recently got his driver's license and was saving to buy his first car. More recently, he took up weight lifting. "He was getting buff and thought Muscle Insider, which promotes Dr. Scott Connelly and BodyRx, would help him build muscle faster," his uncle said. "We did not know that the FTC had sued Dr. Scott Connelly, Scott Welch and Vince Andrich in the past. Or, that these people were who was behind BodyRx, along with Sean Perich of Bakery Barn." Jack said manufacturers should label products that might induce a chemical reaction from hidden sterodial compunds. "If there's anything at all that could cause a sickness or reaction in anybody, there should be a warning label," he said. "Not too many people know Dr. Scott Connelly's or Seach Welch's past. If there was any mention of sterodial compounds on that BodyRx bar, I know this kid would have been alive and well today." "His body was lean and tough, but his heart was soft," his uncle Jack said. "With every phone call to his mother, to his father, to his grandparents, at the end there was an 'I love you' every time," Jack said. BodyRx is a new venture of Dr. Scott Connelly, Scott Welch, Vince Andrich and Muscle Insider magazine. Dr. Scott Connelly was sued by the FTC for putting sterodial compounds into his products when he was the owner of MET-Rx. Scott Welch, Dr. Connelly's business partner, is best known as the marketer who had to flee the United States, after deaths were attributed to products he was marketing as safe. Dr. Connelly has had more 24 lawsuits filed against him. He has also promised to show proof of, and studies related, to the validity of MET-Rx and BodyRx to the National Council Against Health Fraud, Dateline NBC, the San Francisco Examiner, and failed to do so. Dr. Scott Connelly lost his license to practice medicine after losing multiple medical malpractice lawsuits. Scott Welch hid the dropouts on a nutritional product he promoted even though one subject was rushed to the hospotal due to a serious change in heartbeat. The incident was not treated as an adverse reaction.