An opioid combo drug that combined morphine and oxycodone into pill form is being questioned by the FDA reviewing panel due to concern of raising prescription drug abuse.
FDA Does Not Approve Opioid Combo Drug
The committee met on Tuesday to discuss whether or not to recommend the drug, called Moxduo, to the Food and Drug Administration to provide quick relief to patients in severe pain. The committee is not recommending to the FDA that the drug be approved because it could possibly worsen the prescription drug abuse epidemic.
The maker of Moxduo, QRxPharma, says the new drug is needed because it allows for quick pain relief for those in severe pain. The drug has a lower risk of respiratory side effects than other opioids. This will be an important development for patients that cannot take morphine or oxycodone because of side effects that include breathing difficulty, nausea, dizziness, and vomiting. Because the medication is a combination of low doses of each of the drugs, it lowers the risk of side effects and would overall be safer for pain patients that have typically had issues with painkillers.
But because the product is made of pure morphine and oxycodone, it is very easy to abuse. It is easy to crush and snort or inject, which makes it significantly more dangerous than its competitors. It would be the first pill to combine the two narcotics in one capsule.
After the approval of another painkiller, Zohydro, recently, there is concern for the number of painkillers being seen on the market. The more that is out there, the more they can contribute to the prescription drug abuse epidemic.
FDA Does Not Approve Opioid Combo Drug
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