News / Education
Commonly Abused Prescription Drugs Banned
An FDA advisory panel recommended that the popular prescription painkillers Vicodin and Percocetbe banned.
The move by the FDA panel comes not in response to allegations of drug abuse but rather from concerns that the drugs which contain acetaminophen may cause liver damage.
Gordy Weinand, Director of Community relations at Narconon of Georgia stated,
“We applaud this recommendation. While we at Narconon of Georgia continue to give warnings at a local level about these drugs, a statement by the FDA will be broadly heard and as a result, many lives will be saved.”Vicodin is made as a mixture of hydrocodone and acetaminophen. The acetaminophen acts as an pain relieve and fever reducer. Hydrocodone is a synthetic mixture of the opiate codeine and the opiate alkaloid thebaine. Codeine acts as a cough suppressant and pain reliever, while thebaine is added for its stimulatory effects.
Percocet is potent compound painkiller used to treat moderately severe to severe acute (short-term) pain. The main ingredient of Percocet is oxycodone, a potent opiate; in addition, the drug contains acetaminophen.
It's easy to get too much acetaminophen because the drug is in many medicines and a few extra doses a day can cause liver problems. Liver damage from excess acetaminophen tends to cause sudden symptoms, within a few days of taking too much. These may include nausea, vomiting and jaundice — yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes.
Dr. William M. Lee, a liver disease specialist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas who testified in front of the panel stated:
“The proposed ban on Vicodin and Percocet is justified because they're so easy to abuse, Lee said. The narcotics in these drugs are addictive and can lead users to take increasingly higher doses — but that also means increasingly higher amounts of acetaminophen. It makes no sense to combine a highly addictive drug with a "dose-related poison. It's like putting poison and candy together”.More Americans are abusing prescription drugs than cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, Ecstasy, and inhalants combined. This statement by the drug enforcement administration is a small step in addressing the growing crisis facing America.
Narconon of Georgia provides drug treatment and education for the entire southeast region.
Narconon Drug Rehab of Georgia is a non-traditional drug abuse treatment program.
