Enter Zohyrdo

Just heard on the radio this morning that in a few weeks a new painkiller called Zohydro is about to hit the market. A single 50 mg capsule contains 10 times the hydrocodone than a regular Vicodin. An adult with no tolerance could potentially overdose on two capsules and a child on a single capsule. And the capsules are easily crushable.

Zohydro "was first developed in 2002 by Elan, which merged with Alkermes, and Zogenix acquired the U.S. rights in November 2007."* Elan's parent company Perrigo is based out of Dublin. 

Given the recent surge in painkiller-related overdose deaths and increase in heroin abuse and overdose deaths — experts in the field, even doctors specializing in pain management are puzzled if not extremely concerned. I am quoting from Huffingtonpost below (see the link below):

"Concerned about FDA approval of Zohydro? You are in good company. This morning a letter signed by more than 40 organizations was sent to FDA Commissioner Hamburg, urging her to keep Zohydro off the market. The organizations include some of the most prominent addiction-treatment agencies in the country, including Hazelden, Caron, and Phoenix House. Other co-signers include CASA Columbia, the American Society of Addiction Medicine, Blue Cross Blue Shield, the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, and dozens of community-based addiction-prevention organizations."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-kolodny-md/zohydro-the-fdaapproved-p_b_4855964.html

BTW, Elan plans to introduce a non-crushable form in three years, which I believe has something to do with limiting generic versions being produced by other manufacturers.

Here is another block quote from Huffingtonpost:

"Second, please make your way to Washington, D.C., for the FED UP! rally on Sept. 28, 2014, where you will be joined by thousands of people who are equally fed up by the FDA's long track record of putting opioid manufacturers' interests ahead of public health."

*Read more from Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/zohydros-maker-not-required-by-fda-to-take-abuse-deterrent-steps-b99129543z1-229528381.html#ixzz2uR0NfR1S 

Pills Are So Hip!

If AA isn't hip, pill-taking is, apparently.
The fashion designer Betsey Johnson for her upcoming fall fashion show in New York has designed invitations to look like prescription bottles filled with breath mints. 

Photo By George Chinsee

I am not sure how I feel about this. 
On the one hand, psycho-pharmacotherapy has helped countless people manage symptoms of mental illness. 
On the other hand, abuse and overprescribing have created unnecessary suffering
and deaths. 

Does it promote irresponsible drug taking? 
Or, should we accept that everyone is medicated and move on?

It seems this is yet another example of what some people do for fun (recreationally using anti-anxiety and narcotic drugs; taking Adderall or Ritalin to enhance mental functioning or just to stay awake to drink more) has the potential to be very harmful.

I hope there is a label on that "funny" invitation to warn people that medications need to be treated with caution.

More to come on psychostimulant abuse...

Pain Killing

More women are dying from overdoses of narcotic pain medication than cervical cancer or homicide. They tend to be poor, older white women living in rural areas who are also taking medications for depression and anxiety.

Some of the reasons for this trend are as follows: Pain medications are readily available; women are prescribed pain medication at higher doses; women are diagnosed with depression and treated with medications at a higher rate. Women who are single mothers struggling financially are more likely to experience symptoms of depression and anxiety (duh!).

It’s somehow rational that an unhappy or depressed person would succumb to the quick, narcotic relief delivered in a pill. Why not take a respite from pain when it simply means swallowing a pill, even though taking this short cut can mean dealing with serious consequences such as full-blown addiction and even overdose. One symptom of depression is a shortened sense of time or the inability to consider the future at all; so the depressed person is not likely to consider the risks involved when self-medicating with an opiate.

This phenomenon illustrates the fact that substanceabuse and mental illness are two sides of the same coin. It also shows that personal choices and lack of proper planning can cause stresses later on. At the same time, government policies also create hardship that contribute to poor mental health. And, pharmaceutical industry is guilty of profiting from products that are often abused as a quick fix to escape the hardships.

It also shows us that managing symptoms with medication alone is inadequate because it only cushions our ability to handle anguish. A pill cannot change the facts of a life and its context. Experience of pain can be temporarily delayed but it cannot be erased. Soon or later one must begin the tough work to locate the source or the cause of emotional pain. And, if the source of pain is outside ourselves then we must adapt to it or work on changing the environment.