Last updated : November 11, 2024
The Attorneys General for Georgia, Indiana and Kentucky recently convened to discuss FDA approval of the painkilling prescription medication Zohydro and the overall problem of prescription drug abuse. The summit was the latest in a series of initiatives enacted by Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens.
Previously, Olens worked side-by-side with Governor Deal to enact legislation that regulated pain management clinics. The legislation provided better oversight, ensuring that legitimate needs for pain medications were being met while those who engaged in dispensing drugs for nefarious purposes were put out of business.
That legislation has been effective. Nonetheless, abuse of prescription medications remains a problem across the country. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have labeled the problem an epidemic and statistics demonstrate that more Americans die from prescription drug abuse than are killed in vehicle collisions.
The summit attended by Olens and other attorneys general reviewed positive steps that have been taken to fight prescription drug abuse. As an example, Attorney General Olens cites the new FDA guidelines that tell pharmaceutical manufacturers how to make drugs that are less susceptible to tampering.
Olens also argues that the FDA has a responsibility to ensure that pharmaceutical companies manufacture drugs that are abuse-deterrent. One of the latest drugs approved by the FDA clearly flies in the face of this responsibility.
The drug is called Zohydro. Comprised of pure hydrocodone, Zohydro is significantly more potent than Vicodin, which is commonly abused. Moreover, manufacturers of Zohydro have not given it any abuse deterrent features. These features might have included means for stopping abusers from injecting, snorting or crushing the drug.
A scientific advisory committee at the FDA actually voted against approval of the drug. In an 11-2 vote, these scientists decided that Zohydro should not be available to the public. Nonetheless, the FDA proceeded, with the result that the drug may now be prescribed.
Attorney General Olens and other professionals serving in his capacity in other states, are banding together to appeal to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to overturn approval of Zohydro.
Olens believes that in addition to the government providing incentives to drug manufacturers to make their products with abuse deterrent properties, education is also key to ending the prescription medication abuse epidemic. He stresses the importance of knowledge for individuals who are related in any capacity to the use of prescription drugs. Political leaders must continue to advocate for awareness. Doctors must become more aware of the properties of the drugs they prescribe so they can ensure that they are used appropriately. Consumers who take these drugs require education about the importance of using medications as prescribed as well as how to properly store and dispose of them if necessary.
Attorney General Olens may face an uphill battle when it comes to convincing drug manufacturers of their responsibility to those who may use or misuse their products. For now, it seems bringing greater awareness of prescription drug abuse may be the most effective tool at his disposal.
