FDA Approves Prescription Painkiller with Anti-Addiction Drug

After a huge outcry against the powerful opioid prescription painkiller Zohydro, the FDA has approved a new version of a similar drug, but this time with naloxone, a drug that reportedly slows down the euphoric high induced by abusing the drug.

“Targiniq ER has properties that are expected to deter, but not totally prevent, abuse of the drug by snorting and injection,” FDA said in a statement. “When crushed and snorted, or crushed, dissolved and injected, the naloxone in Targiniq ER blocks the euphoric effects of oxycodone, making it less liked by abusers than oxycodone alone.”

Prescription painkiller addicts can still ingest the drug orally and get high, the FDA notes, but the opioid painkiller will release more slowly into the system, hopefully deterring addicts seeking an immediate high.

However, critics of the solution claim that the changes to the drug will have no practical impact, especially with a growing problem of prescription painkiller addicts turning to heroin, a very cheap opioid street drug. Dr. Andrew Kolodny, president of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, said that the best way to prevent prescription painkiller abuse is to change doctors’ prescribing habits.

“If we really want to turn this epidemic around, the most important thing is to stop creating new cases of addiction,” he told the Times. “Coming up with new gimmicks isn’t going to help.”

There are still important reasons to prescribe painkillers, however; chronic illnesses such as metastatic cancer and multiple sclerosis cause severe, constant pain in sufferers, and those patients need consistent access to strong painkillers. However, adding such a chemical deterrent into prescription painkillers like hydrocodone and oxycodone should not affect those who take these medications to help chronic pain.

“In a sense it’s playing a game of ‘whack a mole,’ because if people are addicted to opiates, they will find an opiate,” Caleb Banta-Green, senior research scientist at the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute at the University of Washington, told the news service.

“The FDA is committed to combatting the misuse and abuse of all opioids, and the development of opioids that are harder to abuse is needed in order to help address the public health crisis of prescription drug abuse in the U.S.,” said Sharon Hertz, deputy director of the Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia and Addiction Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a statement. “Encouraging the development of opioids with abuse-deterrent properties is just one component of a broader approach to reducing abuse and misuse, and will better enable the FDA to balance addressing this problem with meeting the needs of the millions of people in this country suffering from pain.”

The FDA’s approval was based on a study of 600 patients suffering from chronic lower back pain. The medication proved both safe and effective, according to Purdue Pharmaceuticals, with the only common side effects being nausea and vomiting. The FDA said that it would require further monitoring of the drug’s potential abuse.

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