Opana ER Maker To Withdraw Controversial Opioid Following Rare FDA Request
Pharmaceutical company Endo will voluntarily pull the painkiller, which is about twice as powerful as OxyContin, based on Food and Drug Administration concerns that the drug was too easy to abuse. Other news on the opioid public health crisis comes out of North Carolina, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
Stat:
Endo Gives In To FDA Demand And Agrees To Yank Its Opioid Painkiller
In the end, the executive team at Endo International blinked. The drug maker has voluntarily agreed to withdraw its Opana ER opioid painkiller in response to an unusual request last month from the Food and Drug Administration over concerns the pill is too easily abused. (Silverman, 7/6)
CNN:
Opioid Opana ER To Be Pulled By Pharmaceutical Company
The company said in a statement posted on its website it still believes in the efficacy and safety of Opana ER, or oxymorphone hydrochloride. The FDA said the request was the first time it had asked that an opioid pain medication be pulled because of "the public health consequences of abuse." (Almasy, 7/6)
North Carolina Health News:
Cooper Presents NC Opioid Action Plan, Slams Federal Health Care Bill
North Carolina leaders unveiled a multi-part plan last week to combat the rise in opioid overdoses and substance abuse across the state. Gov. Roy Cooper called it “flexible” and said it would be updated frequently with new statistics and solutions. The plan calls for everyone to work together, from federal and state lawmakers to law enforcement, local health departments, pharmacists, physicians, businesses, philanthropic groups and community activists. (Knopf, 7/6)
Nashville Tennessean:
Mt. Juliet Police Supply Officers With Opioid Overdose Kits
The Mt. Juliet Police Department has equipped officers with opioid overdose kits to administer to people or fellow officers. The department purchased 90 kits for individual officers, two kits for K-9 units and two wall-mount kits for just over $6,300, Lt. Tyler Chandler said. (Humbles, 7/6)
Kaiser Health News:
Do-It-Yourself Detox Can Be ‘Freddy Krueger’ Scary — And Usually Fails
By the time Elvis Rosado was 25, he was addicted to opioids and serving time in jail for selling drugs to support his habit.“I was like, ‘I have to kick this, I have to break this,’ ” he said. For Rosado, who lives in Philadelphia, drugs had become a way to disassociate from “the reality that was life.” He’d wake up physically needing the drugs to function. (Gordon, 7/7)
