Health Highlights: Jan. 28, 2020

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Dangerous Additives Found in Illegal Pot Vaping Products Seized in LA

Potentially deadly additives were found in marijuana vape cartridges seized in December raids of illegal shops in Los Angeles, California officials reported Monday.

The additives included the thickening agent vitamin E acetate, which has been implicated in a outbreak of deadly respiratory illnesses linked to vaping, the Associated Press reported.

Officials also said that products seized in the raids typically weren’t as potent as claimed, and some had just a fraction of the THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) claimed on the labels.

“The prevalence of dirty and dangerous vape pens at unlicensed cannabis stores demonstrate how important it is for consumers to purchase cannabis goods from licensed retailers, which are required to sell products that meet state testing and labeling standards,” Lori Ajax, head of California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control, told the AP.

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Drug Price-Fixing Charge Laid Against ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli

So-called “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli faces charges of price-fixing of a drug used to treat the potentially deadly condition toxoplasmosis.

The former drug industry executive and Vyera Pharmaceuticals have been charged with allegedly restricting competition to maintain a monopoly on the drug Daraprim, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Monday, CBS News reported.

Former drug industry executive Kevin Mulleady and Phoenixus AG, Vyera’s parent company, are also charged.

Toxoplasmosis is a disease that results from infection by a parasite found in cat feces and contaminated food. It can be deadly in people with HIV/AIDS, CBS News reported.

Shkreli, currently serving a seven-year sentence for securities fraud, became notorious in the United States after his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, bought the U.S. rights to Daraprim and then boosted the drug’s price by about 4,000% to $750 a pill.

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