Published CommPro.biz 2014.03.13

Pain Killers Kill

Zohydro; even the name looks and sounds scary. And well it should; Zohydro is the latest opioid to get the greenlight from the FDA. An OK for a new souped-up hydrocodone formulation that is five to ten times more potent than any of the pain meds now available. There are a couple dozen opioids out there, all derived from heroin’s first cousin morphine or its artificial form. They are all candidates for abuse. They all have the potential to kill more than pain.

It’s hard to imagine how Zohydro gained FDA approval. More than forty doctors and drug abuse experts urged the FDA to nix Zohydro. They wrote, “In the midst of a severe drug addiction epidemic fueled by overprescribing of opioids, the very last thing the country needs is a new, dangerous high-dose opioid.” The Attorney Generals of 28 states and other elected officials have urged the FDA to back off, all to no avail.

Zohydro is a time release drug; each dose is designed to phase in over 12 hours so its full force is not at play at any one time. However, Zohydro lacks any measure to deter abuse. It is not clear why the manufacturer has not added a deterrent. There might be a clue in the background of the drug company CEO; he has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from a small Midwestern college. He may very well be focused on the well-being of mankind rather than the numbers he can ring up with Zohydro, but there’s nothing to indicate that in its present form.

Whatever their motivation adding a potent drug of this magnitude to the runaway levels of opioid prescriptions over the last few years makes no sense. The number of these prescriptions written in 2013 was down 5% from 2012. While any drop in this category is good, there were still 230 million opioid prescriptions written last year; that is up over 14% in just a half dozen years. Some experts say the potency of the pills in many prescriptions was up as much as 50%.

Everyone agrees that the abuse of prescription drugs is up. Kids are getting high from their parents’ pill bottles. Adults are liking how they feel on the drugs they get for pain and experimenting with more and more. Others are mixing opioids, booze and tranquilizers with dangerous and unforeseen results, too often death. It’s too easy for people with legitimate pain issues to find themselves in the “if this works, more must be better” spiral. If they can’t get what they want from their doctor or the hospital ER, they just find another doctor, or another ER.

It’s too easy for doctors to prescribe a pain killer when physical therapy would be a safer alternative. And it’s too easy for patients to pop a pill rather than make a trip to a physical therapist. Too easy to pop another pill when one doesn’t make the pain go away. Too easy to pop one too many and take everything away.

"Am I wrong?"--"Am I crazy?"

"What do you think?"--"Do you agree?"