A new opiate is said to be released to the public if approved by the FDA. This medication is good for people who are experiencing very heavy chronic pain. An interviewed woman stated that she has migraine headaches that are unbearable and this drug promises to help her through her bouts.
CBSNews reported on Dec 26 2011 that “four companies have begun patient testing on the pills which contain a pure version of the highly addictive painkiller hydrocodone. One of them Zogenix of San Diego plans to apply in early 2012 to begin marketing the product, Zohydro.” There are other pharmaceutical companies that are in the final stages of development for this new painkiller. This painkiller is 10 times stronger than Vicodin. This drug Vicodin is used most often by people who have chronic pain and also by people who just want to get numb of real life. If approved it will be the first time patients could legally buy pure hydrocodone. Other products that are on the market now have the drug acetaminophen in them and this is the drug that causes liver damage. This new drug belongs to the family of drugs called opiates because they are chemically similar to opium.
Opiates cause problems for drug rehabs in Mississippi because they are so addictive.
There are those of us out there that understand the dangers of overuse of pain meds and with this new drug coming there is a great deal of concern. Even though this is a time released drug and it is meant for managing severe pain some abusers will crush it for intense high. Right now Oxycodone is the most abused medicine in the United States; with hydrocodone second this according to the DEA. Pharmaceutical companies are getting into the ten billion a year legal market with this highly addictive opioid narcotic.
Drug rehabs in Biloxi, for example, are having trouble with opioid narcotic abuse, as more and more people turn to them.
