Although they are not there yet, the FDA is working towards creating a plan to prevent inappropriate prescribing, misuse and abuse of extended release opoid painkillers.  A panel reviewing the plan rejected it 25 to 10 saying that it doesn’t go far enough toward stemming opoid addiction, overdose and death.  The abuse and inappropriate use of these highly addictive painkillers has risen to the level of illegal drug use and has become a huge problem.  The proposed plan, a risk evaluation and strategy (REMS) plan, would require drug companies to provide education to physicians on how to prescribe pain medication and provide them with information to provide to patients on how to use and store opoids.  The panel stated that providing education is not enough and that the FDA plan needs to be stronger.  In fact, they suggest working to get Congress to pull the Drug Enforcement Administration in to tackle this problem.

The abuse of painkillers affects all of us, adding to our national healthcare costs and putting us at risk when prescription drug addicts and abusers perform jobs that we rely on.  Employer drug screening programs need to include opoid testing and the FDA needs to continue their work to develop a plan that would prevent these abuses.  Patients could be placed on a list when they receive a prescription so that other physicians know their pain medication prescriptions and usage and physicians need to be monitored more closely and provided with training so that they can spot patients faking their pain.  We have a long way to go, but this is a critical health issue that needs to be addressed.