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.