FDA approves hard-to-abuse painkiller

The Food and Drug Administration is making it harder for drug abusers to chew, snort or inject hyrdrocodone, a highly addictive pain killer.

The FDA on Wednesday approved the first hard-to-abuse version of the painkiller, known as Hysingla ER, for patients with chronic pain who have exhausted all other treatment options.

{mosads}A thick gel that’s difficult to dissolve forms when the tablet is crushed or broken, but federal regulators said it’s still possible to abuse Hysingla ER, overdose or die.

“While the science of abuse deterrence is still evolving, the development of opioids that are harder to abuse is helpful in addressing the public health crisis of prescription drug abuse in the U.S.,” Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in the release.

“Preventing prescription opioid abuse is a top public health priority for the FDA, and encouraging the development of opioids with abuse-deterrent properties is just one component of a broader approach to reducing abuse and misuse, and will better enable the agency to balance addressing this problem with ensuring that patients have access to appropriate treatments for pain.”

Hysingla ER ranges in strength from 20 to 120 milligrams. Constipation, nausea, fatigue, upper respiratory tract infections, dizziness, headache and drowsiness are side effects of the drug.