Congress Seeks to Ban FDA-Approved Prescription Opioid Painkiller Zohydro

The recently FDA-approved prescription painkiller Zohydro has caused an uproar in the medical world. Doctors and other experts believe this drug will exacerbate the already worsening state of affairs of painkiller abuse and misuse.

The issue has reached Washington D.C. where Senator Joe Manchin, a democrat from West Virginia submitted a bill yesterday that urged the Food and Drug Administration to rescind Zohydro's approval. The bill, "Act to Ban Zohydro," features a 13-point argument as to why the opioid should be prohibited from reaching the open market.

Zohydro is expected to be widely available as a prescription opioid before the month ends. 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 closely monitored because they have contributed to pain patients' addiction to the drugs.

This new prescription opioid is believed to be ten times stronger than Vicodin, and could not only contribute to addiction among those regularly using pain pills, but could potentially kill someone who has a low tolerance to opiates. Medical experts have said that two pills could kill someone with little-to-no tolerance and that one pill can kill a child.

Despite the countless arguments against Zohydro's approval, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg raised a good point during the Senate hearing yesterday. She claimed that the drug is unique because its effectiveness in treating chronic pain, which affects nearly one-third of Americans, should outweigh fears of its potential abuse. After all, these alarming warnings about the strength of the drug should be a sign for those who are abusing and misusing prescription opioids.

Over 40 experts have written letters to Commissioner Hamburg to dispute the approval of Zohydro, but those who suffer from chronic pain have responded and expressed their need to have access to the drug. Nonetheless, arguments are still going to turn up, but until legal action is taken, Zohydro will be widely available via prescription very soon.

To read more about Senator Manchin's bill, visit this Forbes.com article.