Medical Experts Urge FDA to Revoke New Prescription Painkiller Drug

Prescription opioids have already been a salient issue in the medical world. Patients have misused the drugs for anxiety issues and recreational use. The FDA recently approved a new opioid analgesic, and many heath care, consumer and addiction drugs are concerned.

The drug, Zohydro, was approved in the fall and will be available to patients by March. It will be prescribed to patients who suffer from chronic pain, creating a major concern among medical experts since the drug is hydrocodone-based. Previous hydrocodone-based drugs such as oxycodone have been of paramount concern because they're believed to contribute to the addiction of pain patients.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, hydrocodone is in a class of medications called opiate analgesics as well as another called antitussives. Its role is to relieve pain by altering the responses of the brain and nervous system. Health care and addiction experts don't believe there is a need for a more powerful hydrocodone-based opioid in the prescription drug market. Some doctors have been quite candid about how they feel.

"It's a whopping dose of hydrocodone packed in an easy-to-crush capsule," said Dr. Andrew Kolodny, president of the advocacy group Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing. "It will kill people as soon as it's released."

But this is not the first time the FDA has heard from experts or other relative people in the medical field. Twenty-nine state attorneys sent letters of concern to the FDA this past December in hopes that the administration would review its decision on approving Zohydro. Many believe that it could be the next OxyContin, another prescription opioid that has contributed to misuse among teens. The declining use of OxyContin was a step in the right direction, but Zohydro can negate all of that.

Since 1999, prescription opioid-related deaths skyrocketed from 4,030 to 16,651 in 2010, according to this CNN News article. More petitions may persist in the coming weeks, but Zohydro will be made available next month. Medical experts are likely to stay on top of its uses and effects.