New Federal Restrictions for Prescription Painkillers

Source: August 22, 2014: Natural News Blog—Painkiller Medication Faces Federal Restrictions

Until fairly recently, you couldn’t get a prescription for opiate painkillers unless you were on your deathbed or in the midst of cancer treatment. These medications were reserved for patients suffering from severe pain, and in many cases only for those with conditions that were determined to be beyond hope of a recovery. Drugs like Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin are simply too addictive to take any chances with.

Although they are pharmaceutical medications, they are closely related to heroin, which itself was originally developed as a painkiller less addictive than morphine. The risk of getting hooked on opiate painkillers was until a short while ago recognized as being too great to take chances with unless the patient’s pain was so severe as to justify the gamble of letting the patient get hooked. More recently, doctors have become laxer in their willingness to provide painkillers for conditions such as back pain, and as a result, we have seen a major spike in the number of Americans who are abusing or addicted to painkillers. This, in turn, has resulted in individuals who’ve become addicted turning to heroin as a cheaper and more easily available alternative.

Stemming the Tide of Prescription Painkiller Addiction

Now, the Federal Government is stepping in to stem the tide of painkiller addiction with new restrictions to limit the spread of this type of drug.

It was announced towards the end of last month that within a matter of weeks we can expect to see new restrictions applied to prescription painkillers by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The DEA has been working on this plan for several years and is nearly ready to implement the policies they have been developing. Specifically, the new rules will apply to the painkiller hydrocodone, a drug which is most commonly known as one of the two elements in the popular pain medication Vicodin.

Under the DEA’s new rules, physicians will be prohibited from calling or faxing in prescriptions for drugs containing hydrocodone. Patients will also be prohibited from getting a refill on their prescription without returning to the prescribing doctor’s office, rather than being able to get a new supply by going straight to the pharmacy. Finally, pharmacies will now be required to keep their stocks of hydrocodone in vaults to secure them against theft.

New Restrictions on Painkiller Drugs

These new restrictions are sorely needed to stem the tide of prescription painkiller abuse, an epidemic which now claims more than 15,000 lives per year in the United States, in addition to countless more whose lives are ruined by addiction. The rules could not have come at a better time, with the recent decision by the Food and Drug Administration to approve the drug known as Zohydro. Vicodin has become one of the most commonly abused drugs in the nation, but Zohydro has the potential to be even more habit-forming, given that it is essentially pure hydrocodone, whereas Vicodin is hydrocodone in combination with another drug. This new drug has caused a considerable stir among those who are concerned about the effect that painkillers are having on the American people, and recently a group of five governors, from the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, sent a letter to the federal Health and Human Services Secretary calling on her to take action to block the release of Zohydro.

In a similar move, a group of 28 attorneys general from various states also petitioned the FDA to reconsider its ruling in favor of the drug. These efforts may or may not be successful, but the DEA’s new restrictions should have a positive impact in terms of limiting the spread of painkiller abuse. Hydrocodone and other painkillers have their uses, but they have become far too common and have become a serious public health threat, so it is time that our public officials get into action in the direction of turning the situation around.

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Natural News Blog—Painkiller Medication Faces Federal Restrictions