From NewsWest9.com (Amarillo, TX):

There is a new drug that is causing concern in Amarillo.

Some officials say liquid heroin could become as popular as marijuana for the younger generation.

The liquid heroin they have heard of is in south Texas high schools, and Director of Safe Schools, Healthy Students, Melynn Huntley says they are concerned because the drug is very inexpensive and easy to hide.

Huntley says the drug is mixed with water and then either swallowed or snorted, and often kept in clear bottles.

"If you were looking for this, you would look in Visine bottles or some other little small bottles. It does have a brown tint to it, it is not totally clean because it is with the brown heroin to begin with. It is not going to look like Visine, it would just be in that kind of container."

And we talked with local law enforcement who say they have not seen or heard of liquid heroin in our area yet...but it is a drug they are looking out for.

From HealthDay:

Lead may play a role in the development of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), new research suggests.

In one of two recent studies examining the possible link between lead and ADHD, the researchers found that children with ADHD had slightly higher levels of lead in their blood than did children without ADHD. The second study showed an association between elevated levels of lead in children's blood and parent/teacher ratings of ADHD symptoms, including both hyperactivity and attention problems.

In both studies, the link between lead and ADHD was independent of the children's IQ, family income, race or whether their mothers had smoked during pregnancy.

The findings strongly suggest that lead may be a cause of ADHD, according to Joel Nigg, a psychological scientist at Oregon Health & Science University. He said that lead might disrupt brain activity in a way that leads to hyperactivity and attention problems.

The studies are published in the February issue of the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science.

From Business Week:

People who buy prescription medications over the Internet, especially drugs purporting to treat erectile dysfunction, are playing Russian roulette with their lives, a new study contends.

At best the drugs won't help you and at worst they could kill you, the review article said.

Counterfeit Internet drugs are a mushrooming problem. Seizures of fake drugs in Europe quadrupled between 2005 and 2007. And the number of investigations undertaken by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration increased by a factor of eight between 2000 and 2006, according to the study, published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

The sale of counterfeit drugs has almost doubled in the last five years, and will hit $75 billion in 2010, according to one estimate, making it one of the more lucrative illicit drug markets.

As many as 2.5 million men in Europe may have taken counterfeit sildenafil (Viagra), the study authors stated.

The problem of fake drugs isn't limited to impotence treatments. According to the study, two pregnant women died after they were given injections of a counterfeit iron preparation for anemia, and 51 children died in Bangladesh of kidney failure after taking paracetamol syrup that was contaminated with diethylene glycol, which is often used as antifreeze in cars.

In 2008, four men in Singapore died after ingesting counterfeit impotence drugs that had been contaminated with a blood-sugar-lowering agent, the study reported.

And bypassing the involvement of a competent doctor means red flags could be missed.

"Erection problems can be an early warning sign of heart disease or diabetes," Jackson said. "If you do have a problem and don't see a doctor, diagnosis of those important conditions can be missed. Men with no symptoms at all who get an erection problem usually are an average of three to five years away from a heart attack. Instead of going to the Internet, they should be going to their doctors to find out if they are at risk and to do something about it.

From the Chicago Tribune:

A study to see whether there's a link between PCBs and breast cancer is part of a Wayne State University scientist's work that has received $775,000 in federal stimulus funding.

Melissa Runge-Morris, acting director of the Detroit school's Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, heads a study of the potential role of polychlorinated biphenyls in the progression of breast cancer. A $418,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health supports the work.

PCBs were banned in 1979 but once were widely used in industry. They tend to accumulate in the body fat of those who consume them.

From Business Week:

The Wisconsin state Senate has passed a bill that would ban the chemical bisphenol A from baby bottles and other cups for children.

The Senate passed the bill unanimously Tuesday. A similar bill also passed unanimously out of an Assembly committee on Tuesday as well.

The Senate bill would ban BPA in cups and bottles intended for children under age 3.

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And from The News Tribune:

A bill to ban the use of an industrial chemical found in food and beverage containers used by children sailed through the House on Monday on a 95-1 vote.

If the legislation becomes law, Washington will join Minnesota and Connecticut as the only states to eliminate bisphenol A (BPA) in children’s products.

The vote came 10 days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voiced concerns about BPA’s potential effects on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and young children.

The BPA ban in children’s food and beverage containers, and water bottles was one of three priorities of the environmental community in the 2010 state Legislature.

The state legislation is necessary because the FDA didn’t endorse an outright ban on BPA in children’s products, supporters of the bill said.

From The New York Times:

European and American drug regulators had two starkly different reactions this week to data on an obesity drug. The raw data from the study indicated that people with certain health problems who took the prescription diet drug Meridia had more heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular problems than people getting a placebo.

On Thursday, the European Medicines Agency advised doctors and pharmacists to stop prescribing and dispensing European equivalents of Meridia. The Food and Drug Administration, looking at the same study data on Thursday, took a less forceful step and asked Abbott Laboratories, the maker of Meridia, to put a stronger warning on its label.

The F.D.A. said the new warning should indicate that the drug was not to be used by people who have a history of heart attacks or strokes, or who have uncontrolled high blood pressure.

Abbott, which sells Meridia in Europe under various brand names, including Reductil and Ectiva, indicated Friday that it would comply with the F.D.A.’s labeling request and with the European advisory by suspending sales of the drugs in Europe.

Meridia contains the ingredient sibutramine, which works by increasing neurotransmitter activity in the brain, helping people to feel full after a meal and thereby reducing their food intake. The company said the drug was safe and effective when used in appropriate patients.

The study, called the Scout trial, was the first test to see if a diet drug could reduce the risks of heart attacks.

Some experts said the finding that Meridia actually increased such risk in some high-risk patients rather than reduce it could raise questions about the safety of other diet drugs. The findings might also raise the safety hurdle for new obesity drugs to win approval. However, some experts said the problems might be unique to Meridia, which clearly raises blood pressure and heart rate.

In any case, the significantly different actions by the two health authorities is stirring debate among drug makers and consumer advocates. Did the European agency act too quickly on a set of preliminary data — or was it moving more forcefully to defend consumer health than its American counterpart?

Meanwhile, the F.D.A. said it planned to wait for the company’s complete report on the study, due in March, before considering further action on the drug.

From the U.S Food and Drug Administration:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning the public about a counterfeit version of the weight-loss drug Alli 60 mg capsules (120 count refill pack) being sold over the Internet, particularly at online auction sites.

The counterfeit product is illegal and unsafe. FDA advises people who believe that they have a counterfeit product not to use the drug and to dispose of it immediately. There is no evidence at this time that the counterfeit Alli product has been sold in retail stores.

The counterfeit Alli looks similar to the authentic product, with a few notable differences. The counterfeit Alli has:

• a missing LOT code on the outer cardboard packaging
• an expiration date that includes a MONTH, DAY, and YEAR—the expiration date of the real Alli only contains a MONTH and a YEAR
• a plain foil for the inner safety seal without any words on it—the safety seal of the real Alli has the words “SEALED FOR YOUR PROTECTION” prominently printed on it.
• large capsules with white powder, as opposed to small white pellets found in the real Alli
• a slightly taller plastic bottle with a wider cap and coarser ribbing on the cap than what is seen with the real Alli

Alli is an FDA-approved, over-the-counter weight-loss drug that contains orlistat as its active ingredient. The counterfeit version of Alli does not contain orlistat; instead it is made with varying amounts of sibutramine, a stimulant drug.

Although sibutramine is the active ingredient in another FDA-approved prescription weight-loss drug, it is only to be used in specific doses and under the supervision of a physician.

From the ASPCA:

With various dangers lurking in corners and cabinets, the home can be a minefield of poisons for our pets. In 2009, the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) in Urbana, IL, handled more than 140,000 cases of pets exposed to toxic substances, many of which included everyday household products. Don’t leave it up to Fido or Fluffy to keep themselves safe. Below is a list of the top 10 pet poisons that affected our furry friends in 2009.

Human Medications - Last year, the ASPCA managed 45,816 calls involving prescription and over-the-counter drugs such as painkillers, cold medications, antidepressants and dietary supplements. Pets often snatch pill vials from counters and nightstands or gobble up medications accidentally dropped on the floor.

Insecticides - In 2009, our toxicologists fielded 29,020 calls related to insecticides. One of the most common incidents involved the misuse of flea and tick products—such as applying the wrong topical treatment to the wrong species.

People Food - People food like grapes, raisins, avocado and products containing xylitol, like gum, can seriously disable our furry friends, and accounted for more than 17,453 cases in 2009.

Plants - Common houseplants were the subject of 7,858 calls to APCC in 2009. Varieties such as azalea, rhododendron, sago palm, lilies, kalanchoe and schefflera are often found in homes and can be harmful to pets.

Veterinary Medications - Even though veterinary medications are intended for pets, they’re often misapplied or improperly dispensed by well-meaning pet parents.

Rodenticides - Last year, the ASPCA received 6,639 calls about pets who had accidentally ingested rat and mouse poisons. Many baits used to attract rodents contain inactive ingredients that are attractive to pets as well.

Household Cleaners - These products, when inhaled by our furry friends, can cause serious gastrointestinal distress and irritation to the respiratory tract.

Heavy Metals - Heavy metals such as lead, zinc and mercury accounted for 3,304 cases of pet poisonings in 2009.

Garden Products - Last year, the ASPCA fielded 2,329 calls related to fertilizer exposure, which can cause severe gastric upset and possibly gastrointestinal obstruction.

Chemical Hazards - A category on the rise, chemical hazards—found in ethylene glycol antifreeze, paint thinner, drain cleaners and pool/spa chemicals—form a substantial danger to pets.

From Reuters:

Drugs used to treat malaria may be useful for patients with lupus, a chronic debilitating "autoimmune" disease, according to according to a new report. In fact, the authors of the study, in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism, recommend that doctors give the drugs to all patients with lupus.

Doctors first realized decades ago that antimalarial drugs such as hydroxychloroquine could be used to treat the joint pain often seen in lupus, according to the Lupus Foundation of America. Since then, research has suggested that antimalarial therapy can help prevent flare-ups of lupus and reduce overall damage from the disease, Dr. Bernardo A. Pons-Estel, from Hospital Provincial de Rosario, Argentina, and co-researchers note.

After the team accounted for various factors, using antimalarial drugs appeared to reduce the risk of death during the study by almost 40 percent.

"The data presented, taken in conjunction with the data from the published literature, suggest that antimalarials should be used in all lupus patients regardless of their disease manifestation or disease duration," the authors conclude.