hey, have you heard the story about the l.a. clipper's owner apparently caught on tape, allegedly making racist remarks? now people are calling for a boycott of the clippers and for him to step down. we'll have that story for you at the top of the hour. welcome to sg, md. today a tough choice. a family with two kids. both have a crippling disease. but only one can get a new experimental therapy. plus a surprising new toxic trend that's now on the rise among college students. but first, we know that opiates can be addictive. we know overdoses are becoming more common and we also know that a powerful new pain killer has shared up more than its fair share of controversy. dr. jean-marie naprone has watched the deadly overdoses to go up. a potent new pain killer.

>> in the middle of a prescription drug epidemic and we thought that that was related to an upswing in prescriptions for these opioid analgese like long-acting oxycodone. >> roughly 20% of american have used prescription drugs recreationally. of those 14% became addicted. car crashes are no longer the number one reason people die accidentally in the united states. nowadays, it's actually prescription drugs. that's because on any given day, people take more than the recommended dose. mix and match or take medications not prescribed to them. maybe take pills with alcohol and all of it can make for a deadly dose. in fact, the most recent data shows 37,000 drug overdose deaths in one year. mostly accidental. about 21,000 involve prescription drugs. and of those, 75% were

painkillers. it's pure hydrocodone, five times more than the strongest vicodin. not only that, it can be easily crushed and snorted. >> but let's not forget chronic pain is a huge issue, tens of millions suffer from it. patient advocates say there is a place for a drug like this. dr. perrone disagrees. >> as a physician, as a drug safety person, this is not the choice that's going to help our population. >> perrone sat on an advisory panel that voted against the drug 7-2. against that recommendation, the the fda did agree to put it on the market. the manufacturer said, quote, novel pain medicine that fills

an important medical need. joining me from fda headquarters is commissioner dr. margaret hamburg. welcome to the program. thanks for being here. >> thank you. >> zohydro, state of massachusetts tried to ban it, 30 state attorney generals have asked you to reconsider this approval. your own advisory panel voted 11-2 against it. what are we missing here? why are those folks wrong on this issue? >> well, i think this should not really be about a single drug. it really reflects the growing concerns about opiate addiction abuse, misuse and overdose, and the need to balance strong strategies to combat that public series health program with ensuring access to important pain medications for patients in need. i think there are a lot of misperceptions about this particular drug, zohydro.

but i think what it really brings into focus is that we, as a nation, need to do a better job to combat the serious problem of opiate addiction. i hope that we can really work together to focus on what are the key drivers of that problem and what are the meaningful, enduring solutions. >> did it surprise you that your advisory committee -- again, a very knowledgeable committee -- was so against this? it wasn't equivocal. it was 11-2. >> that's an important question. i want to underscore that that advisory committee met at a point in time, indicating that they could understand the benefits for patients, but they were concerned about the overall safety in the context of the epidemic of opiate overdose addiction and abuse. and what we did was after that advisory committee met, we actually put in place a number

of really quite stringent safeguards and new labeling so that it's much more clear to the prescribing physician that this is a powerful opiate drug with addiction potential, that it's only to be used for severe pain that requires round-the-clock opiate treatment when other treatments aren't adequate, that they need to be very sure that this is the right drug for their patient and reminds them of the addiction potential and the need to monitor their patient. >> the headline, dr. hamburg, a lot of people hear is that pain killer abuse is a big problem. you just alluded to this. 80%, roughly, of the world's pain medications are consumed in the united states. the concern that you hear is that could zohydro, making zohydro available, could it make the problem worse? what do you think? how do you answer that concern? >> well, i think we need to deal with the appropriate prescribing of opiates and we need to find

better treatments than opiates for chronic pain. actually, fda is working very actively with the research community and with product developers to try to find nonopiate treatments for pain that are effective. >> what are the strategies, talking about opiate overdose and she is horrifying statistics is making it so it couldn't be crushed, tamper resistant. it can be helpful, the abuse of oxycontin pretamper resistant went down after it was made tamper resistant. so, is it -- should we have made a zohydro tamper resistant version first before releasing it? >> sadly, at the present time, the abuse deterrent technology is very much in its infancy and we are encouraging the research

community and companies to develop new, better abuse deterrent technologies. at the present time there's only one drug out of about 30 of the extended release, long-acting opiates and there is none in the immediate release category that has demonstrated abuse deterrent formulation. so, we need to keep pushing on abuse deterrent technology and we're encouraging it and working with sponsors. and that's something that i hope we'll have down the road. >> dr. hamburg, i appreciate you being on the program. this is a very important issue for us as well. we've been reporting on this idea that, you know, accidental overdoses from these opiates is one of the leading causes of death in this country and this is a fixable problem. glad to hear that you're on the case. >> we are. up next, another tough call. two brothers with a devastating

i illness. only one is being allowed to try a new experimental therapy. their homes and save money. does it make sense to refinance right now? a lot of times we can lower the monthly payment, we can consolidate debt. we just want to make sure that you know your options, and we're here for you. we're not just number crunchers. i specialize in what i do and i care about my clients. from beginning, the middle and to the end, you're gonna talk to someone. not a machine. call us today for a mortgage experience that's engineered to amaze.

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imagine having two sons with a fatal disease. one gets experimental therapy and thrives. the other doesn't and has to sit by and just watch. it's tough to imagine. certainly as a father, i'm having a hard time doing that. for the family you're about to meet, it is their reality.

>> 15-year-old austin mcclaire has always wanted to be part of the high school band but day-to-day it's becoming harder to play. >> austin's arm function is getting worse. i can see him struggling to lift his drum sticks. >> austin has a severe form of muscular dystrophy. it's the disease that jerry lewis has been raising money for, for the past 60 years. have you noticed anything over the last couple of years that's become more challenging? >> it's been harder to get in my bed and position myself. >> having one son with this disease would be hard enough for any mom. jen has two. austin and his younger brother, max. boys first lose the ability to walk around the age of 10. most don't live past their 20s. his brother defies these odds,

and jen believes it's due to an experimental drug. max began weekly infusion treatments of the drug 2 1/2 years ago, part of a small clinical trial of 12 boys. austin didn't qualify because he was already in a wheelchair. >> how much of a difference has it had in their lives? >> i think you're literally looking right now at the mother of two children with duchenne, one who is going to be the first child to survive the disease and one who is going to have the last child to die from it. >> since the trial started all 12 boys have seen their symptoms start to stabilize and don't sooeb seem to be many side effects. the fda still has not approved the drug. they want more evidence. >> the fda says look, we're just not sure yet. this is part of why we exist, to be sure that it is safe. yes, it's been a two-year trial. but all these kids give them more time. we're not sure how effective it is because, again, it's too

small. >> we have said that we will accept the possible risk that this drug isn't as effective as we think it is five years down the line or some kind of side effect develops. but in the meantime, while they are not sure and while they are collecting more data, our kids are dying. >> frustrated with the process, parents like jen have become vocal advocates, pushing for this drug's approval. it's become a contest of the emotional stories of these children and parents versus the very drug approval process itself. >> i want to know that they understand what children go through in a clinical trial. >> finding therapies for rare or orphan diseases like duchenne can be difficult because of the small number of patients and the extreme progression of the disease. by definition, rare diseases have fewer than 2,000 cases in the country. in the case of duchenne, there are just 15,000. >> rare disease is such that if we don't get our children in clinical trials and get these drug out quickly, there's no hope for these kids. >> if you were able to get this medication, what do you think it would do for you?

>> i think it would help me be able to do -- be able to do the things i like and for it to be easier for me to do them, like play the drums. >> joining me now from washington is jen mcnary. you met her in the piece, austin and max's mother. the fate of this drug has been in limbo for quite some time. the fda did lay out a road map for the company, to conduct more trials, to get the drug possibly to more children and potentially lead to its approval if the ruls pan out. jen, you and i had a long conversation about this. the new trial is not going to launch for a few months. when it does, first thing is first, will austin be able to get the drug, do you think? >> you know, the fda has allowed for a flexible trial design with no placebo, including nonambulant children. so, in theory, austin fits. again, we don't get special treatment. he will be in line with all the other boys that could possibly benefit from this drug.

>> i had a chance to talk to austin. he's a smart kid. we talked about a lot of different things. have you told him this most recent news? does he know he may be a candidate? >> oh, yeah. the morning we got the news, it was 6:55 and actually, we were kind of thinking we were going to get some news because just the timing was right. and so christine, my boss, were at the house, waiting for the announcement to come out, waiting for the press release and austin was woken up to the news that the fda was moving forward and that he should be consider considered for a trial and if all goes well, you know, they could be dosing really, you know, by september. i would say at the latest. i'm hopeful it will be sooner. i feel like the fda has said that they can move forward as soon as possible. as soon as they have drug i really hope that they're beginning to recruit and dose these children. >> i would have loved to have seen the expression on his face.

i'm sure there was a big smile and he appreciated that. jenn, thank you for spending so much time with us. it's an important story to tell. thank you for being on the program. >> thank you so much. a once common danger was almost wiped out but now is on the comeback trail. it's dangerous stuff. it can kill and many doctors don't even recognize it. and works more naturally than stimulant laxatives. for gentle cramp free relief of occasional constipation that works! mmm mmm live the regular life.

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up until the 19 0660s more n half a million people were

catching measles in the united states a year. hardly anyone my age or younger has even seen a case of measles. you can't take this for granted. cdc just put out a warning about an outbreak. stephanie elam has the story from los angeles. >> highly infectious disease. >> it may start with a fever or cough but splotchy red rash is its signature. >> you're infectious four days before you develop symptoms. you may not know you're sick. >> reporter: many people in the united states have not seen measles since it was all but eradicated a decade ago. >> i've seen it. i know what to look for. the new physicians haven't seen it. part of the campaign that public health has been doing is to make sure they know what to look for. >> in california, the number of confirmed can as has risen in the last couple of years. so far this year, 58. in orange county alone, the number of cases has skyrocketed. >> we had 22 cases here in orange county. that's a lot more than we

normally have. we have, over the past five years, no more than one or two cases a year. >> reporter: why the sudden outbreak? the reason is the growing number of parents refusing to vaccinate their children. last year in california, there was a 15% increase of people opting out of immunizations. in orange county, a 30% increase. is there any reason to support this idea that vaccinations could be dangerous to children? >> absolutely not. there are serious consequences to having -- getting the measles. >> reporter: here, they are trying to spread the word faster than the virus that vaccinations work. >> the two immunizations, mmr, that you get is almost 95% to 98% protective. >> reporter: there haven't been any new cases here in three weeks and more people are getting their shots. maria laguardo tells me she brought her children in for the vac nations two days after hearing about the outbreak. >> education can overcome

misconceptions. >> reporter: our shrinking world. according to the centers for disease control, 93% of the people diagnosed with measles in california contracted it abroad or from someone who just returned from overseas. >> measle sincere pretty prevalent in other countries. when you go and visit you need to make sure you're immunized. >> reporter: more affluent parts of orange county. but he's hopeful through education that their minds will be changed. stephanie elam, cnn, orange county, california. >> let's take a moment and drive home a very important point about vaccinations. maybe this will make the case for you. take a look at this map and pay careful attention to where the measle cases are around the world. this is not hard to see. in parts of the world where vac nation rates are lower, the number of cases can be higher, exponentialily so. in uk, where vaccination rates have dropped, they've had several recent outbreak.

you're not just protecting yourself. you're protecting others around you. even a small drop in vac nation rates can lead to a large rise in cases. a lot of doctors have never even seen a case of measles. fever, cough, congrejunctiv its and a rash that people remember. anyone who was born after 1956, if you did get vaccinated, when you see your doctor, should ask them to make sure you're still protected. still ahead, a double edge sword, college students are picking up a new trend that could be even more toxic. who drove to the control room [ woman ] driverless mode engaged. find parking space. [ woman ] parking space found. [ male announcer ] ...that secured the data that directed the turbines that powered the farm that made the milk that went to the store

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this week the fda proposed its long-awaited regulations on e-cigarettes. this is what one of those e-cigarettes looks like. this is the nicotine vapor over here. once connected together you take a puff, and you get a nicotine vapor. we want companies to disclose ingredients, keep them out of vending machines and put on warnings and keep them away from teenagers. another thing that caught my eye. the rules go further, covering other tobacco products as well with, including hookahs. 40% of college kids used a hookah lastier alone. many believe it's safer than cigarettes, unaware that hookah smoke can be just as toxic. this is a traditional hookah. the basin is filled with water,

charcoal, producing smoke that moves up a chamber and is inhaled through a hose. you might hear that the water filters out the cancer-causing toxins. they are exposed to more carbon monoxide and smoke than cigarette smokers. in a 60-minute hookah session, they're exposed to 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a single cigarette. they don't often realize the volume of smoke they're inhaling because the water cools the smoke, making it less irritating to the lungs but no less deadly. warnings would frag the risk from hookah smoke as well as e-cigarettes. nicotine in just about any form is addictive and a vicious cycle to break. it's one of the most difficult habits tlout more so than heroin or cocaine. i want to tell you about this neat project i'm excited about. an and a half we just launched

on our website, ten initiativs s referrableuati revolutionizing health care. time now to get you back into the cnn "newsroom" with don lemon. top of the hour. i am don lemon. you are in the cnn newsroom. we are following a developing story that connects american sports, society and culture. the national basketball association, the nba, says it is now investigating recorded remarks allegedly made by l.a. clippers owner donald sterling. obtained by the website tmz include a voice disparaging african-americans and telling his girlfriend to stop bringing black people to