Despite Warnings, FDA Approves Potent New Opioid Painkiller - Miranda Farrar

Last week, a new opioid painkiller called Dsuvia was approved by the FDA. This medicine is different because while it is potent, the dose is small. It is put underneath the patient's tongue, rather than injected or swallowed as a pill. It's used when a fast painkiller is needed, like when a vein cannot be found fast enough. This argument deeming the medicine is necessary is used by people supporting it, such as Dr. Pamela Palmer, the co-founder of the company that made Dsuvia. On the other hand, there are many people opposing the approval of it, for example, Dr. Sidney Wolfe, the senior advisor to Public Citizen's Health Research Group. Her and Dr. Raeford Brown, an anesthesiologist at the University of Kentucky, have expressed concern around the misuse of this drug, despite claims that it will be kept under control and will not contribute to the opioid crisis. The main problem with the approval of this drug is that the vote's outcome was "tilted" in it's favor. The meeting was held without Brown, the committee chief, who has been against opioids in the past. In addition, many drug safety committee members were left out of this meeting. Therefore, the vote was skewed in favor of the drug.

I appreciate that this article contained both sides of the argument. In addition, it answered questions that I was thinking as I read it. For example, I was wondering why this drug was so necessary, and it provided reasons as to why people believe it's crucial. It also addressed the possibility of people misusing it, and it provided a source of where most people get pain relievers to misuse. In my opinion, the drug shouldn't have been approved. Many people spoke out against it and wrote letters about their concerns around the medicine. Tests also showed that the drug wasn't unique, and it didn't provide particularly fast pain relief. At the very least, the meeting should have included more people on the drug safety committee. That way, possible outcomes could be evaluated and solutions could be suggested. Although not a direct synthesis, this could be compared to the invention of the cotton gin. It seems like a good product that could help people, but it could also lead to harmful outcomes. The cotton gin lead to more production in cotton, requiring more labor, which meant a dramatic increase in slaves. Painkillers are important, but there is already an opioid crisis happening. The introduction of an unnecessary opioid will not help curb the abuse of drugs.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/11/02/663395669/despite-warnings-fda-approves-potent-new-opioid-painkiller