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Senator Proposes Ban on Zohydro

A senator from West Virginia has proposed banning the prescription hydrocodone drug Zohydro until a new, safer version is available.

Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has proposed a bill that would reverse the FDA's approval of Zohydro until its maker, Zogenix, creates a version with less potential for abuse. Reversing the FDA's approval would act as a temporary ban on the drug.

Zohydro is a powerful opiate painkiller made up almost entirely of hydrocodone. Its release in early March was controversial: The drug was approved even after the FDA's own advisory board voted 11-2 against approval.

Zohydro's abuse potential is high. The pills are crushable, and doing so bypasses the pill's protective time-release coating. Without the coating, the high concentration of hydrocodone in Zohydro could be deadly if abused.

You can find an informative "Raising Awareness" clide deck about Zohydro here.

by Certified Counselor on March 21, 2014, 1:51 p.m. archive