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Newsletter: September 2002: Legislative News

FDA Approves "Date-Rape" Drug to Treat Sleep Disorder
On July 17th the Food and Drug Administration approved Xyrem, a brand name for sodium oxybate or gamma hydroxybutyrate (also known as GHB), for treating cataplexy in narcoleptics. Cataplexy is a condition categorized by weak or paralyzed muscles. Many safety concerns surround the drug, including the fact that illegal use of GHB has led to "serious adverse" events including death and misuse as a "drug for rape," the FDA says. In fact, when the drug does become available, physicians will fax their prescriptions to a central pharmacy, which will mail the drug directly to patients. Orphan Medical Inc., the drug's manufacturer, says that the central pharmacy will "reduce the chance of it being diverted and abused...It will not be available at your local pharmacy."

Senate Committee Passes Women's Bill of Rights
First approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1994, the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (also known as CEDAW, or the Women's Bill of Rights) has never come to a Senate vote, due to opposition by Republican Senators. This July, for the first time in the 22 years since the United States signed on, the international treaty has made it out of the committee in time for a vote by the full Senate. President Bush included the treaty in a list of "generally desirable" pending international agreements that "should be approved." The Senate could vote on the bill as early as this fall.

D.O.H. Releases New Protocol
The New York State Department of Health released the Protocol for the Acute Care of the Adult Patient Reporting Sexual Assault this past June. The revised Protocol "reflects a more comprehensive view of patient care, one that changes the focus from determining the validity of the patient's claim of rape to the provision of standardized, consistent health care, along with the proper collection and preservation of forensic evidence." The Alliance's Forensic Healthcare Program was active in the creation of this document, which replaces the Adult Sexual Offense Evidence Collection Protocol. This document is available through the FHP resources section of the Alliance's website.

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