Posted on 01/30/2025 4:44:13 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials on Thursday approved a new type of pain pill designed to eliminate the risks of addiction and overdose associated with opioid medications like Vicodin and OxyContin.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Journavx for short-term pain that often follows surgery or injuries.
It’s the first new pharmaceutical approach to treating pain in more than 20 years, offering an alternative to both opioids and over-the-counter medications like ibuprofen and acetaminophen. But the medication’s modest effectiveness and lengthy development process underscore the challenges of finding new ways to manage pain.
Studies in more than 870 patients with acute pain due to foot and abdominal surgeries showed Vertex’s drug provided more relief than a dummy pill but didn’t outperform a common opioid-acetaminophen combination pill.
“It’s not a slam dunk on effectiveness,” said Michael Schuh of the Mayo Clinic, a pharmacist and pain medicine expert who was not involved in the research. “But it is a slam dunk in that it’s a very different pathway and mechanism of action. So, I think that shows a lot promise.”
The new drug will carry a list price of $15.50 per pill, making it many times more expensive than comparable opioids, which are often available as generics for $1 or less.
Vertex began researching the drug in the 2000s, when overdoses were rocketing upward, principally driven by mass prescribing of opioid painkillers for common ailments like arthritis and back pain. Prescriptions have fallen sharply in the last decade and the current wave of the opioid epidemic is mainly due to illicit fentanyl, not pharmaceutical medicines.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Well based on the price per pill I suspect they want people addicted to opioids. But hey the option is there I guess.
Whats the big deal? Opiates are great drugs when you have real pain, and as far as addiction goes, well, there was a time in this Country when Doctors were still allowed to practice medicine the way they saw fit. In my case I had a nice long talk with my 3 doctors after a bad motorcycle accident. You have 2 options and one of them we aren’t going to do. Medical Coma for 3 months or take all the Percodan you can for 3 months. Percodan is yesterdays OxyContin. Obviously we all knew I would be addicted in short order, but My Doctors had a Plan, in 3 months once you have healed up enough for surgery you will go in to the Hospital for 3-4 weeks, the first 7-10 days will be to go through Withdrawls under Doctors care in a hospital bed. I was basically knocked out with other drugs for a little over a week, once the shit was out of my system I had a 12 hour Major Surgery and woke up Drug Free and Pain Free. I couldn’t have lived without them and near the end I was taking 50 a day!!!
The massive drug addiction must be an illusion.
Ever been to an emergency room at night?
I’m sure it’s not, but most people want the drugs for the slightest discomfort and have no clue what Real Pain is. in my case well I found out because if the drugs wore off or if I didn’t take them soon enough I Literally would start to shake, sweat go into Shock and hit the ground wherever I was. Withdrawls only take a week and Doctors used to be able to put you in the Hospital to get it done, which is the right thing to do. 1978 was a long time ago though
I was responding sarcastically to eyeamok’s comment that he wasn’t addicted after massive opiod use after a motorcycle accident.
My point was that he may have dodged the bullet, but homeless encampments full of drug addicts in cities across the country say he is the exception.
FR’s liberTARDians are going to hate this one.
I know a guy who has been on opioids for chronic pain related to spinal stenosis, djd, and osteoarthritis, for years. His pain management physician recently put him on morphine contin twice a day, instead of fentanyl patches,in addition to oxycodone 4 times a day as needed. Since he put him on the morphine, he takes much less oxycodone usually just one or two per day. Before, he was running out of oxy before the month was up. A competent pain management clinician makes all the difference in the world.
What’s the performance vs. alternating back and forth between ibuprofen and acetaminophen, which works pretty well in some cases for MODERATE pain.
I prefer aspirin myself.
I always took half what the doctor prescribed because I was scared to death of getting hooked on them.
“It’s not a slam dunk on effectiveness,” said Michael Schuh of the Mayo Clinic, a pharmacist and pain medicine expert who was not involved in the research. “But it is a slam dunk in that it’s a very different pathway and mechanism of action. So, I think that shows a lot promise.”
Excuses? It’s more expensive and doesn’t work?
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