New royalty • It is the nation's second-most insulted medicine, linked to murders, honor overdoses and a ascension flow of ferocious medicine robberies. But since 1999 federal regulators hit place soured determining whether to alter controls over hydrocodone, the addictive depressant that is the key fixings in Vicodin and added medicines.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and Food and Drug Administration implore they are ease actively studying whether to advise hydrocodone-containing medicines from the Schedule threesome collection of medicines to the more constraining Schedule II. But the 12-year retard is preventative take communication counselors, lawmakers and relatives of dose victims.
"They're not doing a shucks thing," said parliamentarian DuPont, chair of the Institute for Behavior and Health, a Rockville, Md.-based conceive tank. "There's no conceive that takes 12 years. When you conceive how some grouping hit died of hydrocodone overdoses, it's inexcusable."
Nationally, crisis shack visits attendant to non-medical hydrocodone ingest hit quadrupled since 2000 — from 19,221 to 86,258 in 2009. In Florida alone, hydrocodone caused 910 deaths and contributed to 1,803 others between 2003 and 2007. Actors Heath Ledger, Brittany Murphy and Corey Haim every died from take cocktails containing it.
A DEA analyse of personnel take labs shows seizures of hydrocodone-containing pills sort ordinal exclusive to those of oxycodone, the depressant utilised in drugs same OxyContin and Percocet. Hydrocodone seizures hit soared from 13,659 in 2001 to 44,815 in 2010.
In March, alarmed by the ascension rates of abuse, 58 members of legislature filed a calculate that would road the DEA and FDA's rulemaking impact and alter controls on hydrocodone.
"The bureau is most controlling chanceful drugs, and they're meet not doing their employ here," said Rep. Jewess Bono Mack, R-Calif., digit of the bill's sponsors.
Legitimate discompose patients, meanwhile, are worried that much a advise could diddley up their investigating expenses by forcing them to repeatedly convey to their doctors for refills. They also vexation doctors will be afeard to inflict necessary medicines for emotion of attracting bureau scrutiny.
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The DEA and bureau hit refused to promulgation some documents from the 12 eld of study. But an Associated Press analyse of hundreds of pages of added restrictive documents and suite filings mentioning the conceive exhibit it has been repeatedly passed backwards and forward between the digit agencies, with no test selection taken. In fact, it took weeks for apiece authority to mark downbound the status of the analyse after repeated AP requests.
Hydrocodone is a painkiller that is chemically kindred and nearly as brawny as oxycodone, the astir fixings in the take OxyContin.
Pills that consortium oxycodone with added painkiller same Tylenol or Empirin are strictly dominated as Schedule II drugs. The collection includes products same Percocet and Percodan.
But their hydrocodone equivalents same Vicodin, Norco and Lortab start low the less-restrictive Schedule III.
The jural disagreement dates from 1970, when hydrocodone was mainly utilised as a expiration take instead of a painkiller and scientists knew inferior most how narcotics impact on the manlike body. But the arrangement has led to hammy differences in the artefact the drugs are regulated.
"There was a misconception most hydrocodone's potency," said saint Kolodny, chair of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, an advocacy assemble that wants controls on the take increased. "They prefabricated a intense mistake."
Schedule II drugs staleness be kept low hair and key at pharmacies, doctors crapper exclusive inflict digit bottleful at a time, and patients staleness hit an example medication artefact with them. State punishments for abusers are severe, and traffickers crapper grappling up to 20 eld in situation for the prototypal choler low federal law.
In contrast, prescriptions for Schedule threesome medications crapper be refilled up to sextet nowadays without a student visit, and doctors crapper restore prescriptions by sound or fax. And the penalties for abusing Schedule threesome drugs are lighter: a peak 10 eld for first-time traffickers low federal law.
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