[News] Regarding Skullcap

[epileric]

This looked relevant since Skullcap is believed that is help seizures.

Scutellaria lateriflora, commonly known as skullcap, is used as an ingredient in numerous herbal products. However, it has been occasionally adulterated/contaminated with Teucrium canadense and/or Teucrium chamaedrys, commonly known as germander, due to the morphological similarities between the two genera. The latter contains hepatotoxic diterpenes. Despite the potential hepatotoxicity introduced by germander contamination, analytical methodologies for the authentication and quality assessment of S. lateriflora-based dietary supplements have not been reported. In this study, a flow-injection/mass spectrometry fingerprinting method in combination with principal component analysis was used to survey S. lateriflora-based dietary supplements sold in the USA.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/g88448620660pm02/

A good article about it is here but they won't let me cut & paste to quote them.
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Industry/USDA-expresses-skullcap-supplement-concerns-with-new-analytical-method