Health News
- Rogers, Other Drug-caucus Chair File Bill To Reverse Fda's Approval Of New Painkiller; Competing Company Has Alternative
Illustration from PainAndDepression.comU.S. Reps. Hal Rogers of Somerset and Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts have introduced a bill to withdraw federal approval of a new formulation of hydrocodone that is highly addictive and produced in crushable pills,...
- Conway, Other Ags Ask Fda To Require Generic Prescription Pain Pills To Be Abuse-resistant, Tamper-resistant
Generic versions of popular pain relievers must be made harder to abuse, in order to curb prescription drug abuse that is epidemic in many states, Attorney General Jack Conway and 47 other attorneys general said in a letter sent to federal officials Monday....
- Generic Oxycontin And Opana, Headed For Market Soon, Could Make Fight Against Pain-pill Abuse Tougher, Mcconnell Says
With generic versions of the two most commonly-abused painkillers, Opana and OxyContin, coming on the market next year, police, hospitals and health clinics in Kentucky have voiced concern that "these generic crushable drugs lack the tamper-resistant...
- New Form Of Oxy Is Harder To Inhale And Inject, So Drug Users Are Turning To Heroin, Opana For High
A new formulation of OxyContin makes it harder to inhale or inject. Drug Enforcement Administration photo.A change in the formulation of the powerful drug OxyContin has addicts turning to another high to fuel their habit: heroin. Researchers at the Washington...
- Former Official: Dea Failed To Slow Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic By Not Limiting Production
At a time when Oxycontin abuse was rapidly increasing, the Drug Enforcement Agency had the power to slow production of the drug and perhaps stave off what is now a prescription drug abuse epidemic in rural areas across the country, reports Guy Taylor...
Health News
FDA could require tamper-resistant painkillers; without such action, prescription-drug abuse problem would worsen
UPDATE, Jan. 14 : Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal reports, "Addicts by the scores used to get a quick and easy high from snorting or shooting up the powerful narcotic OxyContin ? until manufacturer Purdue Pharma developed a new version that?s harder to abuse. But with the company?s patent on its original drug set to expire in April, activists, lawmakers and doctors are worried that cheaper, easily crushable generic versions will flood Kentucky and worsen the state?s already-devastating prescription drug abuse problem."
The Food and Drug Administration will force generic manufacturers of powerful pain pills to switch to a tamper-resistant composition if it finds evidence the composition curbs prescription drug abuse and addiction, Alan Rappeport of The Financial Times reports. Public-health advocates worry that if generic versions of opiate pills are not made tamper-resistant, the prescription drug abuse epidemic may worsen.
If the agency finds tamper-resistance significantly deter abuse, it has legal authority to require generic drug makers to switch their opiate formulas. Just as manufacturers of some pain pills began switching formulas to make the pills harder to crush, easily crushable, generic forms of OxyContin and Opana were released. Purdue Pharma and Endo Pharmaceuticals, which make Opana, have hoped to extend patent life of their drugs by pushing the FDA to prevent generic makers from using old versions of their drugs. Generic makers argue this will keep patients from buying cheaper drugs.
The FDA said it will take a "flexible" approach to determining the effectiveness of tamper-resistant drugs because abusers are constantly finding new ways to avoid deterrents. (Read more)
The Food and Drug Administration will force generic manufacturers of powerful pain pills to switch to a tamper-resistant composition if it finds evidence the composition curbs prescription drug abuse and addiction, Alan Rappeport of The Financial Times reports. Public-health advocates worry that if generic versions of opiate pills are not made tamper-resistant, the prescription drug abuse epidemic may worsen.
If the agency finds tamper-resistance significantly deter abuse, it has legal authority to require generic drug makers to switch their opiate formulas. Just as manufacturers of some pain pills began switching formulas to make the pills harder to crush, easily crushable, generic forms of OxyContin and Opana were released. Purdue Pharma and Endo Pharmaceuticals, which make Opana, have hoped to extend patent life of their drugs by pushing the FDA to prevent generic makers from using old versions of their drugs. Generic makers argue this will keep patients from buying cheaper drugs.
The FDA said it will take a "flexible" approach to determining the effectiveness of tamper-resistant drugs because abusers are constantly finding new ways to avoid deterrents. (Read more)
- Rogers, Other Drug-caucus Chair File Bill To Reverse Fda's Approval Of New Painkiller; Competing Company Has Alternative
Illustration from PainAndDepression.comU.S. Reps. Hal Rogers of Somerset and Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts have introduced a bill to withdraw federal approval of a new formulation of hydrocodone that is highly addictive and produced in crushable pills,...
- Conway, Other Ags Ask Fda To Require Generic Prescription Pain Pills To Be Abuse-resistant, Tamper-resistant
Generic versions of popular pain relievers must be made harder to abuse, in order to curb prescription drug abuse that is epidemic in many states, Attorney General Jack Conway and 47 other attorneys general said in a letter sent to federal officials Monday....
- Generic Oxycontin And Opana, Headed For Market Soon, Could Make Fight Against Pain-pill Abuse Tougher, Mcconnell Says
With generic versions of the two most commonly-abused painkillers, Opana and OxyContin, coming on the market next year, police, hospitals and health clinics in Kentucky have voiced concern that "these generic crushable drugs lack the tamper-resistant...
- New Form Of Oxy Is Harder To Inhale And Inject, So Drug Users Are Turning To Heroin, Opana For High
A new formulation of OxyContin makes it harder to inhale or inject. Drug Enforcement Administration photo.A change in the formulation of the powerful drug OxyContin has addicts turning to another high to fuel their habit: heroin. Researchers at the Washington...
- Former Official: Dea Failed To Slow Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic By Not Limiting Production
At a time when Oxycontin abuse was rapidly increasing, the Drug Enforcement Agency had the power to slow production of the drug and perhaps stave off what is now a prescription drug abuse epidemic in rural areas across the country, reports Guy Taylor...