I’ve got to admit, I must have already been living in the world of alternative medicine by the time the FDA approved Xyrem.  As far as I can figure, it’s exactly the same as the street drug GHB.  Us pharmacology types call this gamma hydroxybutyric acid.  In a stable salt form that people can take as a prescription drug, it can also be called sodium oxybate.  Among other sets of cognoscenti with whom I would usually not hang out — read “on the street” — it is known as various other things that those initials can stand for such as “Georgia Home Boy” or “Grievous Bodily Harm,” a lovely term from old British law.  There have been a couple of high profile American cases where Xyrem was used as a date-rape drug.  The FDA has warned against taking dietary supplements that contain it.  It’s the very same chemical as GHB.  It is also an FDA approved prescription drug. Read more on Topic: Xyrem and Doctors…