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Dayton Business Journal...
New painkiller
drug said to be highly-addictive
by DBJ Staff
Monday, December 26, 2011
A new type of painkiller now in testing by drug companies is said to be
10-times stronger than Vicodin and has set of alarm bells for addiction
experts across the country as they say the new super-drug could be the
next top illegal drug for addicts.
CBSNews.com reports that four different companies are testing the new
drug that is a pure version of the painkiller hydrocodone, and that
Zogenix of San Diego plans to apply to market its version of the drug
early next year.
The new drugs use a time-release formula to allow the highly-addictive
medicine to slowly enter the bloodstream to control moderate to intense
pain. But addiction specialists say the pill could easily be crushed to
bypass the time-release and get an immediate intense high, much like
what addicts do with OxyContin.
Hydrocodone is in a family of drugs known as opiates or opioids and are
similar to opium, according to CBSNews. Other drugs in the family
include morphine, heroin, oxycodone, codeine, and methadone.
Any new drug that is readily available to addicts on the street could
have a huge impact on the Dayton region and the local business
community. (Click here for more on prescription drug abuse among Dayton
business owners.)
As the economy plummeted in recent years, the number of professionals
getting addicted to prescription medications has soared. And people
getting hooked on pills is becoming such a problem that politicians and
government officials are taking notice and trying to do something about
it.
Addictions to prescription medications have spiked among Dayton-area
young adults and professionals, such as business owners, because the
medications are so easy to get — from a doctor or even on the street.
The problem has hit the hardest in the Dayton region. In fact,
Montgomery County led the state in the number of deaths from
unintentional medication overdoses between 2004 and 2008, according to
Ohio Department of Health data.
In 2008, the data shows that among the 132 drug-related deaths among
Montgomery County residents, 106 were attributed to prescription
opioids, primarily methadone, followed by oxycodone and hydrocodone.
The Dayton region and Southwest Ohio has seen a boom in biotech and
pharmaceutical jobs as the drug industry has grown its presence in the
region. Multiple pharmaceutical companies are based in the Dayton
region, including Eurand Corp. in Vandalia, Encore Pharmaceuticals in
West Chester, AtriCure Inc. (Nasdaq: ATRC) in West
Chester and Waltham, Ma.-based Alkermes Inc. (Nasdaq:
ALKS) that has a facility in Wilmington with 400 workers, up from 300
in the past year.
As part of the plan to fight prescription drug abuse, Montgomery County
will receive funds to develop an Opiate Task Force, part of a $36
million plan to help Ohioans addicted to prescription drugs receive
treatment and return to the workforce. Ohio Gov. John Kasich announced
the new funds in April.
In addition to Montgomery County, the new Opiate Task Forces will be in
22 counties. The task forces will work to coordinate the efforts of
medical, treatment, law enforcement and community relations partners to
combat opiate and heroin addiction.
Among the drug companies that may be asked to take part in the efforts
are Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ),
GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK), AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) and Eli Lilly
& Co. (NYSE: LLY), which is based in Indianapolis.
Read this and other articles at Dayton Business Journal
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