From Medscape Today:

A new imaging study supports a growing body of evidence that the hallucinogen psilocybin, the active ingredient in 'magic mushrooms', may have potential in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and possibly cluster headaches.

A study of 30 healthy volunteers showed decreased brain blood flow and venous oxygenation in the cingulate cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex after the participants received intravenous injections of psilocybin.

"We were surprised because we thought that psilocybin was going to increase brain activity in regions like the visual cortex, which would explain the visual changes. But it actually switched off certain areas," coinvestigator David J. Nutt, FMedSci, psychiatrist and professor of neuropsychopharmacology at the Imperial College London, told Medscape Medical News.

"Remarkably, the decreases were localized to important connector hubs in the brain that serve as key junctions for information transfers. Knocking out these key hubs with psilocybin appears to allow information to travel more freely, probably explaining why people's imaginations become more vivid and animated and the world is experienced as unusual," added lead author Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD, also from the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit at Imperial College London.

He noted that these areas of the brain are known to be overactive in patients with depression and that antidepressants, psychotherapy, and even meditation are used to bring the activity in these regions "back to normal."

Dr. Carhart-Harris said that although the study's results are preliminary and that more research is needed before definitive claims can be made about the therapeutic value of psychedelics, "the initial signs are promising."

The study was published online January 23 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

From standardspeaker.com:

A surge in patients under the influence of a dangerous drug called Cloud 9 is being reported by one local hospital.

Cloud 9 is marketed as a fake insect repellent and it produces the same dangerous side effects as drugs sold as fake bath salts, said Geisinger spokesman Matthew Van Stone. The Plains Township facility's emergency room has seen an increase of patients under the drug's influence.

Side effects include paranoia, hallucinations, suicidal thoughts and physical effects such as rapid heartbeat and hypertension, said Dr. Sam Saylor, an emergency medical physician at Geisinger.

People sniff, inject or smoke Cloud 9, Saylor said. Fake bath salts and fake insect repellent contain stimulant drugs like mephedrone and MDPV, he said.

From Fox News:

Four companies have been working to develop pure forms of hydrocodone, the main ingredient in Vicodin, Lortab and other painkillers. They have been mostly quiet about their plans.

But William Marth, chief executive of the company's North Wales, Pa.-based North American division, gave a preview of TD Hydrocodone during an investors' conference in San Francisco on Tuesday.

"We believe that's another product that will get approved and can be a three-, four-, $500-million product in a couple of years," Marth said.

He said the drug could be on the market in the "relatively near future," adding it should replace revenue lost when the patent on another Teva drug, the multiple sclerosis treatment Copaxone, expires in 2014.

Hydrocodone, oxycodone and morphine fall into a category of painkillers known as opiates because they are chemically similar to opium. They are extremely powerful and can create a physical dependence. Users who try to stop can suffer intense withdrawal symptoms, from muddled thinking to stomach cramps, heart palpitations and nausea.

Experts in pain management say opiates are needed for legitimate pain control, especially as the U.S. population gets older. Analysts say the market is worth billions of dollars.

But critics fear the new hydrocodone drugs could unleash a new wave of abuse like the one that accompanied the debut of OxyContin in the 1990s.

The TD in TD Hydrocodone stands for tamper deterrent, said Judson Clark, an analyst with the Edward Jones investment company who follows Teva. Addicts crush extended-release opiate pills to get the full impact of the medication and increase the high, so drug companies have been trying to develop tamper-resistant technologies to combat abuse.

From The Bellingham Herald:

The Food and Drug Administration is warning patients about a potential mix-up between powerful prescription pain drugs and common over-the-counter medications made at a Novartis manufacturing plant.

The issue stems from manufacturing problems at a Lincoln, Neb., facility which triggered a recall Sunday of 1,645 lots of Novartis' over-the-counter drugs, including Excedrin, Bufferin, NoDoz and Gas-X.  Consumers are advised to stop using the products and contact the company for a refund.

FDA officials warned Monday that some of Novartis' over-the-counter pills may have accidentally been packaged with powerful prescription painkillers made at the same facility. The opioid drugs are sold by Endo Pharmaceuticals as Percocet, Endocet, Opana and Zydone.

Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc., of Chadds Ford, Pa., said it is not aware of any confirmed product mix-ups that reached patients or caused any injuries. A spokeswoman for Novartis said late Monday that only Gas-X is produced on the same manufacturing line as the opioid drugs.

FDA officials say they are not recalling the painkillers because they are essential medications for many patients and the risks of stray pills are low.

From The Washington Post:

The Food and Drug Administration must come up with a decision by March 31 on whether to ban a chemical that’s widely used in plastics and the metal linings of food containers, according to a court settlement reached Wednesday between the agency and the Natural Re­sources Defense Council.

The NRDC filed a petition in 2008 asking the agency to ban bisphenol A, or BPA, citing a growing body of research that suggests exposure to the chemical might pose serious health risks. When the FDA failed to respond within the time frame required by law, the NRDC sued the agency.

The settlement forces the FDA to take a position on a chemical that’s been used for more than four decades to manufacture everything from the cans for liquid infant formula to the coating on grocery store receipts. The agreement, approved by U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones in New York, said the FDA must issue a final decision, not a “tentative response.”

From keyt.com:

Doctors at a Santa Barbara addiction treatment center say it's a growing trend in teen drug use. This new drug ("Molly") is the purest form of an already popular street drug--Ecstasy.

"It sounds wholesome. Molly, the girl next door. In urban slang it means 'pure' MDMA," explains Dr. P. Joseph Frawley.

Doctors warn it is easy to come by, even available over the internet in some cases.

According to a recent survey at Syracuse University, of those surveyed, 50 percent of students had heard of "Molly." Of those, only 30 percent knew its effects. And, of those who'd tried the drug, only about 30 percent knew what they ingested.

From Market Watch:

The National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators, Inc. (NADDI) will host its 22nd Annual Educational Training Conference specifically designed to promote cooperation between its diverse membership of law enforcement, healthcare, state regulatory and pharmaceutical manufacturing professionals in the prevention and investigation of prescription drug diversion.

Highlights of the NADDI conference include presentations from numerous educational, healthcare practitioners and regulatory administrators tackling a myriad of issues and investigative discoveries ranging from the accessibility of pharmaceutical tampering on the streets to managing transportation risks and storage of pharmaceutical drugs. Over the course of four days, NADDI conference attendees will gain valuable insights directly related to the state of prescription drug abuse; new developments surrounding investigative practices and policies; and varied entry points among pharmaceutical providers and consumers culpable to the illegal distribution of substandard, counterfeit drugs within an increasing interdependent population.

Speakers for this event include: Josh Bolin, Government Affairs Director for the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy; Allan Coukel, Director of Medical Programs at Pew Health Group; Chuck Forsaith, Corporate Director of Supply Chain Security at Purdue Pharma LP; Dr. Melinda Shelby, Ph.D, Senior Scientist for Sports Services at Aegis Sciences Corporation; Fran Diamond of NMS Labs; Joe Spillane, Pharmacist/Toxicologist at University of Florida; Demetra Antimisiaris, Assistant Professor & Director of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy at University of Louisville Department of Family & Geriatric Medicine; David Byram, Director of Public Sector at Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Dr. Hilary L. Surratt, Ph.D, Professor & Co-Director at the Center for Research on Substance Abuse & Health Disparities, Nova Southeastern University; Naburan Dasgupta, MPH from the School of Public Health at University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill); and a very special luncheon presentation from keynote speaker, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

From azfamily.com:

A new designer drug called Dragonfly has sent several young people to the hospital across the country. It’s perfectly legal and it's also incredibly dangerous.

Earlier this year the Drug Enforcement Administration put fake pot products like spice and bath salts on its emergency banned list, but now there is a new designer drug emerging called Dragonfly.

“It was actually manufactured as a research chemical in rats, believe it or not, but somehow people have got their hands on it mostly through the Internet,” Chandiramani said. “It acts like LSD so they use it for hallucinate properties and what we know is it causes a really long trip.”

The doctor said it can come in a pill form or blotters. Blotters are where a piece of paper is soaked in the drug and then put under the tongue.

“It's something that has caused people to find their way into the emergency room and it's very highly toxic, even in very small doses,” Chandiramani said.

From NewsOK:

A new medication offers hope for the most severe form of childhood epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Clobazam just received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval following research that showed it reduces the number of seizures. Ng, an OU Children's Physicians doctor, took the lead in clinical trials involving 350 patients at 51 health centers in the U.S., India, Europe and Australia.

“Some of these patients would be in wheelchairs. Some would have 50 or 100 seizures a day,” Ng said during a news conference Thursday.

Two weeks after being on the medication, the patients reported to researchers that they had gone from many seizures a day to none.

“There was nearly a 70 percent drop in seizures,” in patients using the high dosages, Ng said.

In these tightly controlled trials, patients who received lower doses also had fewer seizures.

About 3 million Americans of all ages have epilepsy. Lennox-Gastaut syndrome is a severe childhood epilepsy associated with several types of seizures that usually occur before 8 years of age.

The drug clobazam originated in France around 1980 but Ng said this was the first randomized, controlled trial involving the drug that works on brain receptors to increase calming effects.

“This appears to be a very safe and effective medication,” Ng said.

The journal Neurology published Ng's paper on the drug study.

From MSNBC.com:

Two chemicals considered harmful to babies remain in Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo sold in the U.S. and some other countries, even though the company already makes versions without them, according to an international coalition of health and environmental groups.

Now the coalition is urging consumers to boycott Johnson & Johnson baby products until the company agrees to remove the chemicals from its baby products sold around the world.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has unsuccessfully been urging the world's largest health care company for 2 1/2 years to remove the trace amounts of potentially cancer-causing chemicals — dioxane and a substance called quaternium-15 that releases formaldehyde — from Johnson's Baby Shampoo, one of its signature products.

Johnson & Johnson has said it is reducing or gradually phasing out the chemicals.