Personal Injury Blog

Lawmaker Calls for Extra Scrutiny of Super Painkillers, Risks

January 13th, 2012
super painkillers

One such company is Zogenix, which is set to introduce its version of a pure hydrocodone painkiller.

The Los Angeles defective products  lawyers at our firm have been concerned about attempts to develop so-called super painkillers that are 10 times more powerful than existing ones already on the market.

The risks of addiction, abuse, and over dosage of these painkillers are too high to ignore.  Fortunately, lawmakers are now beginning to take these risks seriously.

Sen. Charles Schumer, Democrat-New York has written to federal drug safety regulators, asking them to reconsider any approval of these super painkillers.  These painkillers are supposed to be at least 10 times more powerful than Vicodin, one of the most powerful painkillers currently available on the market.  A number of companies are currently researching so-called ‘pure form’ hydrocodone painkillers.

One such company is Zogenix, which is set to introduce its version of a pure hydrocodone painkiller.  Concerns are high that this painkiller will be several times more addictive than OxyContin and Vicodin.  These 2 drugs have been linked to a number of cases of over dosage, leading to death.

Zogenix’s painkiller is called Zohydro.  The company put the painkiller through its final phase of testing in March 2010.  By 2012, the company is expected to apply to the Food and Drug Administration for approval of the painkiller.  Zogenix insists that this painkiller will be much safer to use than Vicodin, which contains acetaminophen and can lead to liver toxicity.  The company also claims that it plans the development of a risk mitigation strategy that can help prevent abuse of the drug.

Sen. Schumer is asking the Food and Drug Administration to track any hydrocodone products, and also to take appropriate precautions to deter abuse of these products.  Los Angeles personal injury lawyers have to agree with Sen. Schumer’s concerns.  It was just last week that a report named poisoning as the number one cause of death in the United States in 2008.  It was the first time in more than a decade that the number one factor in fatalities in the United States was not automobile accidents.

Not surprisingly, most of those poisoning-related fatalities were caused by prescription drugs.  Prescription drug abuse and over dosage have become a major source of concern. OxyContin, for instance, has been linked to many cases of over dosage, because its manufacturer failed to take steps to mitigate the risks of over dosage.  In an environment like this, when there’s so much abuse of existing painkillers, it seems dangerous to allow even more powerful painkillers on the market.

Posted by Robert Reeves at 12:27 pm: No comments

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