Friday, January 4, 2013
Thursday, January 3, 2013
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Drug Companies Want Ban on Generic Painkillers, Arguing Safety is at Stake
Drug companies that manufacture the painkillers OxyContin
and Opana are trying to block generic drug makers’ efforts to produce
cheaper versions of the drugs. They argue these newer drugs will not
have the tamper-resistant designs used in making the brand-name pills,
according to The New York Times.
Generic versions of the two painkillers are expected to be significantly less expensive than the brand-name drugs.
Purdue Pharma, which makes OxyContin, and Endo Pharmaceuticals, which
manufactures Opana, produce versions of the drugs that are more
resistant to melting or crushing, which makes them more difficult to
abuse. The companies say generic versions of the drugs without these
safety features will increase demand for the drugs and lead to a rise in
painkiller abuse.
Both companies support state and federal legislation that would
require many opioids to be tamper-resistant, the article notes. The
manufacturers are also asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to
differentiate between drugs with tamper-resistant features and those
without such qualities.
A bill introduced in the U.S. House this summer would require most painkillers to have safeguards
to prevent abuse. Under the provisions of the bill, most prescription
painkillers would have some form of abuse deterrence, such as being more
difficult to crush or inject. If pain medications did not adopt the
safety features outlined in the bill, they would be removed from the
FDA’s approved list of generic drugs.
In December, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit by Endo that aimed
to block the FDA from allowing generic versions of Opana. The newspaper
quotes court papers filed in response to Endo’s lawsuit, in which the
FDA called the company’s action a “thinly veiled attempt to maintain its
market share and block generic competition.”
CALENDAR LISTING:
“Expanding
Your Recovery Toolkit” Workshop Jan. 15 in Doylestown
Free
monthly workshop series for individuals and families with a current or
pastdrug/alcohol addiction issue. Next session meets Tues., Jan. 15, 7
p.m. to 8:30
p.m. at The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc., 252 W. Swamp Rd.,
Unit 12,
Doylestown, Pa. Topics include “feeding the drug monster” and “how I
finally
stopped using”. Refreshments. To register, call 215-345-6644 or email JSchwartz@councilsepa.org.
Tainted Cough Syrup Kills Scores of Addicts
Tainted cough syrup can kill.
Photo SOURCE THE FIX
More than 40 people have died in the city of Gujranwala
in eastern Pakistan after consuming a locally manufactured cough syrup.
Most of the victims were addicts who were using it for a cheap high.
Two dozen people were pronounced dead at the weekend, bringing the
total count up to 41. And some of another 46 people still being treated
at local hospitals after becoming violently ill also remain in critical
condition. The cough syrup in question, known as "Tyno," has been sent
for lab testing to find out what made it was so deadly. Last month, 23
addicts died in the nearby city of Lahore after drinking a cough syrup
to get high; the owners of three drug stores were arrested after
officials determined that their cough syrup had been adulterated,
causing it to become extremely toxic.
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