'DATE RAPE' DRUG IS APPROVED FOR TREATING RARE DISEASE

The notorious date-rape drug GHB won FDA approval yesterday to treat a rare
but dangerous complication of the sleep disorder narcolepsy - but it will
be sold under some of the most severe restrictions ever imposed on a medicine.

Several dozen deaths are blamed on the chemical. But GHB was hard to stop
because it was easy for people to make using common chemicals.

Narcolepsy is marked by recurring episodes in which patients suddenly fall
asleep from a few seconds to an hour. GHB doesn't treat that symptom.
However, 20,000 to 50,000 narcolepsy patients also suffer from cataplexy, a
muscle-weakness complication that can cause people to collapse without warning.