WASHINGTON Thu Feb 27, 2014 12:46pm EST
<span id="articleText"/> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A coalition of addiction experts, physicians and others is urging U.S. health officials to reverse course and block the launch of a powerful painkiller called Zohydro, expected to hit the market next month.
<span id="midArticle_0"/> The opioid drug, manufactured by Zogenix Inc, contains a potent amount of an active ingredient that could be lethal to new patients and children and is not safer than other current pain drugs, the groups told the Food and Drug Administration.
<span id="midArticle_1"/> "Someone unaccustomed to taking opioids could suffer a fatal overdose from just two capsules. A single capsule could be fatal if swallowed by a child," they wrote in a petition to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, dated Wednesday.
<span id="midArticle_2"/> In December, attorneys general from 28 states also urged the FDA to reconsider its approval of the drug.
<span id="midArticle_3"/> Shares of San Diego-based Zogenix were down 2 percent to $4.59 in mid-day trading on the Nasdaq.
<span id="midArticle_4"/> Zogenix, in a statement, said it was confident in the FDA's approval of the drug, which will be "subject to stricter prescribing and dispensing rules." The company has said it plans to start selling the drug in early March.
<span id="midArticle_5"/> The latest petition came as the United States grapples with an epidemic of prescription drug abuse, especially involving powerful opioid pain medications. Opioids are a class of drugs that includes morphine, codeine and oxycodone as well as hydrocodone.
<span id="midArticle_6"/> Nearly 5 million people in the United States ages 12 and older abuse pain drugs, outpacing sedatives, stimulants and other abused medications, according to a 2012 U.S. government survey.
<span id="midArticle_7"/> The FDA, which has launched its own efforts aimed at curbing abuse of pain-killing medications, approved Zohydro last year despite earlier concerns from a panel of FDA outside advisers worried about addiction risks.
<span id="midArticle_8"/> The FDA advisers echoed the concerns of public health experts, law enforcement and others, who pointed to the drug's delivery system and say they are worried about the potential for Zohydro to be crushed or injected.
<span id="midArticle_9"/> Zohydro can contain as much as 10 times the amount of the narcotic hydrocodone as other painkillers such as AbbVie Inc's Vicodin or UCB Inc's Lortab, advocates said in their petition.
<span id="midArticle_10"/> "Zohydro is not safer," they wrote.
<span id="midArticle_11"/> Both Vicodin and Lortab also contain the pain-killing ingredient acetaminophen. Zohydro does not.
<span id="midArticle_12"/> FDA officials have said they are working to balance public health worries about opioid addiction with access to the drugs for patients seeking pain relief. The FDA has said Zohydro's benefits outweigh its risks.
<span id="midArticle_13"/> FDA spokeswoman Morgan Liscinsky said the agency would review the group's letter.
<span id="midArticle_14"/> The petition was signed by 42 supporters, including representatives of advocacy groups such as Public Citizen as well as physicians and community addiction treatment providers.
<span id="midArticle_15"/> (Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
<span id="midArticle_16"/>
<span id="articleText"/> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A coalition of addiction experts, physicians and others is urging U.S. health officials to reverse course and block the launch of a powerful painkiller called Zohydro, expected to hit the market next month.
<span id="midArticle_0"/> The opioid drug, manufactured by Zogenix Inc, contains a potent amount of an active ingredient that could be lethal to new patients and children and is not safer than other current pain drugs, the groups told the Food and Drug Administration.
<span id="midArticle_1"/> "Someone unaccustomed to taking opioids could suffer a fatal overdose from just two capsules. A single capsule could be fatal if swallowed by a child," they wrote in a petition to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, dated Wednesday.
<span id="midArticle_2"/> In December, attorneys general from 28 states also urged the FDA to reconsider its approval of the drug.
<span id="midArticle_3"/> Shares of San Diego-based Zogenix were down 2 percent to $4.59 in mid-day trading on the Nasdaq.
<span id="midArticle_4"/> Zogenix, in a statement, said it was confident in the FDA's approval of the drug, which will be "subject to stricter prescribing and dispensing rules." The company has said it plans to start selling the drug in early March.
<span id="midArticle_5"/> The latest petition came as the United States grapples with an epidemic of prescription drug abuse, especially involving powerful opioid pain medications. Opioids are a class of drugs that includes morphine, codeine and oxycodone as well as hydrocodone.
<span id="midArticle_6"/> Nearly 5 million people in the United States ages 12 and older abuse pain drugs, outpacing sedatives, stimulants and other abused medications, according to a 2012 U.S. government survey.
<span id="midArticle_7"/> The FDA, which has launched its own efforts aimed at curbing abuse of pain-killing medications, approved Zohydro last year despite earlier concerns from a panel of FDA outside advisers worried about addiction risks.
<span id="midArticle_8"/> The FDA advisers echoed the concerns of public health experts, law enforcement and others, who pointed to the drug's delivery system and say they are worried about the potential for Zohydro to be crushed or injected.
<span id="midArticle_9"/> Zohydro can contain as much as 10 times the amount of the narcotic hydrocodone as other painkillers such as AbbVie Inc's Vicodin or UCB Inc's Lortab, advocates said in their petition.
<span id="midArticle_10"/> "Zohydro is not safer," they wrote.
<span id="midArticle_11"/> Both Vicodin and Lortab also contain the pain-killing ingredient acetaminophen. Zohydro does not.
<span id="midArticle_12"/> FDA officials have said they are working to balance public health worries about opioid addiction with access to the drugs for patients seeking pain relief. The FDA has said Zohydro's benefits outweigh its risks.
<span id="midArticle_13"/> FDA spokeswoman Morgan Liscinsky said the agency would review the group's letter.
<span id="midArticle_14"/> The petition was signed by 42 supporters, including representatives of advocacy groups such as Public Citizen as well as physicians and community addiction treatment providers.
<span id="midArticle_15"/> (Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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