Congress makes fervent push for abuse-deterrent painkillers
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Congress is once again tackling prescription painkiller abuse, zeroing in on how to prod the federal government to approve more drugs with features that deter abuse.
But such technology isn't a silver bullet for this growing problem, according to doctors.
Painkiller overdoses kill 44 people a day in America, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overdose deaths started to take off in the nineties but dropped in 2012 and essentially leveled off.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}With painkiller overdoses still a problem, lawmakers believe abuse-deterrent technology can be a potential problem solver. However, there are very few painkillers available that have such features, with one being the popular painkiller Oxycontin.
The most common abuse-deterrent technology prevents a pill from being snorted, usually by having it turn into a gel after it is crushed. The technology also prevents an abuser from chewing the pill to get a high more quickly.
The FDA finalized a draft regulatory guidance from 2013 on how drug makers can adopt abuse-deterrent technology. If it hadn't done so by June the agency would have lost $20 million in funding from Congress, a threat that the agency apparently took seriously.
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