‘Killer painkiller’ extra bad news for veterans
Could this be the deadliest new drug FDA has ever approved?
It can kill with just two pills.
A child could die from only one.
The FDA’s own advisory committee voted 11 to 2 against allowing it on the market.
Over 40 health-care professionals, including doctors and experts in dangerous pain meds, begged FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to cancel its release, saying “We ask you to put the public’s health ahead of industry interests.”
Attorneys general from around the country have pleaded with the FDA to “reconsider” its approval of this drug.
And despite all that, the FDA has given its okay, and allowed this super-potent, deadly pain medication on the market.
That’s bad news for everyone. But it could be especially bad news for our veterans.
The most dangerous one of all
“It will kill people as soon as it’s released.” That no-nonsense statement came from Dr. Andrew Kolodny, a well-respected public health advocate.
And he’s not alone.
The outcry against the FDA’s approval of Zohydro has doctors, health-care professionals, politicians and even individuals up in arms.
But first, the drug.
Zohydro is a powerful opiate painkiller, with up to 10 times the power of Vicodin. Opioids are synthetic versions of opium, and just as addictive.
And Zohydro will be one of the most powerful prescription drugs of this kind available. One that could fuel a deadly increase in addiction, overdoses and death.
This drug, experts wrote to the FDA, is “…the very last thing the country needs…a new, dangerous, high-dose opioid.”
And those who stand to be harmed the most could very well be our war heroes — veterans who more and more are paying the price of being prescribed dangerous painkillers.
But it’s obvious the FDA weren’t concerned about our veterans when it approved Zohydro.
The date the drug was officially released, well, that was just two weeks after a congressional hearing about the VA’s “skyrocketing” use of narcotic painkillers. Between 2001 and 2012, VA prescriptions for four other similar (but not as strong) drugs increased over 270 percent!
And a recent study showed that in 2011, veterans who are patients at VA hospitals were dying at two times the national average from Rx drug overdoses.
Now VA hospitals will have Zohydro to prescribe to them.
So our brave veterans are basically sitting ducks.
But Zohydro is terrible for everyone. Especially since it’s a common practice to prescribe opioids for chronic concerns like back pain, headaches, and even fibromyalgia.
When taken over time, these drugs lose their powers, requiring higher and higher doses. As the dose increases, so do the dangers. And in some cases, they can even make pain worse.
One of the differences between this new pill and Vicodin is that Zohydro is pure hydrocodone, only stronger and without the added Tylenol (acetaminophen).
And here’s where things really start to get crazy.
The drug’s manufacturer, Zoginex, says that acetaminophen is so dangerous that this new painkiller is somehow safer because it doesn’t contain any.
Wow, talk about bizarre logic!
Yes, acetaminophen is dangerous. It’s the leading cause of acute liver failure. But the fact that Zohydro doesn’t contain any sure doesn’t make it any safer.
And it’s not just the danger of long-term use and addiction that makes this new, high-dose drug so deadly. If your body isn’t accustomed to it, as few as two capsules could result in a fatal overdose.
Just two could be enough to kill someone!
And that’s more than enough reason to never, ever take a first one.
Sources:
Zohydro: the FDA-approved prescription for addiction” Andrew Kolodny, M.D., February 26, 2014, Huffington Post Science, huffingtonpost.com
“VA’s opiate overload feeds veterans’ addictions, overdose deaths” Aaron Glantz, September 28, 2013, The Center for Investigative Reporting, cironline.org
