Anti-addiction groups call for new FDA chief

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By MATTHEW PERRONE

WASHINGTON (AP) — Anti-addiction activists are calling for the Food and Drug Administration's top official to step down, saying the agency's policies have contributed to a national epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse.

In a letter released Wednesday, more than a dozen groups ask the Obama administration's top health official to replace FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg, who has led the agency since 2009. The FDA has been under fire from public health advocates, politicians and law enforcement officials since last October, when it approved a powerful new painkiller called Zohydro against the recommendation of its own medical advisers.

The new letter is the first formal call for new leadership at the FDA over the issue.

"We are especially frustrated by the FDA's continued approval of new, dangerous, high-dose opioid analgesics that are fueling high rates of addiction and overdose deaths," states the letter, which is addressed to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, who oversees the FDA and other health agencies. The groups signing the letter include Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, a 900-member advocacy group that petitioned the FDA to drastically restrict opioid use. The FDA rejected that petition last year.

FULL story at link.



FILE - FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg poses for a portrait before a newsmaker interview at the Associated Press in Washington, in this May 30, 2014 file photo. In a letter released Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014 anti-addiction activists are calling for the Food and Drug Administration's top official to step down, saying the agency's policies have contributed to a national epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse. (AP Photo/J. David Ake, File)


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140924/us--painkillers-fda_criticism-df3c23ac84.html

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. We have tens of millions suffering from chronic pain.

I understand their concerns about addiction, but that has to be balanced with access to effective pain medications.

[jwirr]

2. Got a grandson hooked on pain killers. Agree with the advocates. No more.

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. Sorry about your grandson, but what about the people in chronic pain?

[jwirr]

5. Yes, I thought of that also but i know there are a lot of good pain relievers already. By stopping

this one we may be able to get the attention of those who are ignoring this situation. His doctors even though told he as addicted continued to give him the same pain reliever. Until the medical profession starts taking addiction seriously I am not in favor of any more of their products. And this is just the type of drug - addicting and dangerous - that is most troubling.

[Xithras]

3. Screw them.

Like all anti-drug crusaders, their argument boils down to a simple belief: "Because a few might abuse it, everyone must be punished". These people think that it's BETTER for people to suffer in horrendous pain than to take the (relatively small, overall) chance that those same people might get addicted. Multiple surveys and studies have shown that fewer than 5% of opioid users become addicts. The rest use it to solve temporary pain issues, and then never use it again.

Drug warriors never miss an opportunity to expand their battlefield.

[tooeyeten]

6. Agree with you

We don't ban alcohol (we did, but you saw how well that worked out) and we are not banning tobacco. A medical need is a priority for those suffering from chronic pain, abuse will happen and does for almost anything that exists, but we cannot legislate a ban on every freaking thing on the planet damnit.

[smirkymonkey]

7. Hear, hear!

Not everyone becomes addicted, why punish those who suffer with excruciating pain just because of the handful that do?

[Xithras]

8. Especially when there are better options.

As I said, the studies generally show that less than 5% of opioid users become addicts. There are, of course, other studies showing that between 25% and 50% of users become addicts, but these studies focus on people who ALREADY had addiction issues (drug, alcohol, gambling, etc.) prior to using opioids. If you subtract these people from the overall numbers, the addiction rate for opioids drops to less than 2%.

Rather than ban the most effective class of pain relief ever invented by medical science, it would be much simpler (and more effective) to simply screen patients for a history of addictive traits prior to prescribing them. Nobody disagrees with the argument that patients with a history of addiction shouldn't be given opioids, but many of us strongly disagree with the idea that they should be banned for everyone.

For what it's worth, I have a very personal reason for opposing these people. My father sustained a major back injury that lead to two surgeries a few months ago. His doctor, paranoid about new enforcement efforts and under new guidelines, refused to prescribe enough pain medications to effectively manage his pain. He was bedridden for WEEKS. My sister finally sought out a local dealer to buy some weed (she was going to make him some brownies), but the guy offered her some hydrocodone instead when he found out what she was buying for.

Within an hour of taking the higher dose opioids, he was up and walking around. Sore, but functional. Within another week he'd healed enough to go back to the doctors less effective prescription, and not long afterward was off the drugs completely.

When law abiding and addiction-free citizens have to turn to the illegal drug market just to obtain medication that will allow them to function as human beings, you know that the drug warriors have gone too far. These people made my father suffer in agony for weeks simply to further their anti-drug agenda. To hell with them all.

[smirkymonkey]

9. I am sorry to hear about your dad, he should not have had to go through such

measures to obtain pain relief. That must have been infuriating. Relief should be available through doctors as needed.

Personally, I am violently allergic to opiates and have had to suffer through post-surgery pain without painkillers, but it would be nice if they could eventually come up with something that is not an opiate or addictive that relieved pain effectively.