https://sputniknews.com/us/201811031069469564-fda-approves-potent-opioid-drug-epidemic/
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday approved a powerful new opioid to use in care settings despite criticism from one of its own advisers.
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb issued a special statement on the approval of the new drug, Dsuvia, noting that its use will be strictly controlled and that the agency understands the controversy behind its decision, the Washington Post reported.
“It fills a specific and important, but limited, unmet medical need in treating our nation’s soldiers on the battlefield,” Gottlieb said, noting that the drug will be sold in the form of a 30-microgram tablet designed to be put under the tongue, making it more suitable for battlefield situations where people cannot easily inject a drug.
Gottlieb also noted that the drug will only be authorized for use by professionals in healthcare settings and possibly on battlefields, so patients will not be able to get it at a pharmacy and take it home. Dsuvia is reportedly 10 times more powerful than fentanyl and 1,000 times more powerful than morphine. It was developed by manufacturer AcelRx in cooperation with the Pentagon, which spent millions of dollars on the project.
Public Citizen, a consumer rights advocacy group, objected to Dsuvia’s approval, as did Raeford Brown, the chairman of the FDA advisory committee, who wasn’t present during the vote regarding the drug.
“It is certain that Dsuvia will worsen the opioid epidemic and kill people needlessly. It will be taken by medical personnel and others for whom it has not been prescribed. And many of those will overdose and die,” Sidney Wolfe, the founder of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, said in a statement.
