TELL US: How Should Oxycodone Be Better Managed?

In light of the recent attempted armed robbery at a Manalapan pharmacy on Wednesday, residents are left with a number of unanswered questions as well as concerns. Most notably, the suspect showcased a handgun and demanded Oxycodone instead of money.

Oxycodone is a pain medication that is classified as an opiod analgesic and is prescribed for the management of moderate to severe pain; the drug is highly addictive.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cracked down on companies to take unapproved oxycodone products off of the market in July of this year. The oxycodone that had become unapproved by the FDA were the single-ingredient, immediate-release oxycodone drug products.

“The FDA recognizes that opioid medications are associated with prescription drug misuse, abuse, and addiction, which have resulted in an increase in injuries and deaths across the United States over the last 10 years.” a FDA news release release issued on July 5 said. 

The FDA has also introduced new safety measures for the extended release and long-acting pain relievers. “Misprescribing, misuse, and abuse of extended-release and long-acting opioids are a critical and growing public health challenge,” FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. said in a FDA news release issued on July 9.

A new Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy program will be implemented in March 2013. This program requires that all prescribers of high-potency pain killers be trained to use the drugs appropriately and learn about the potential for misuse, abuse, and addiction.

The goal of this program, according to Hamburg, is to ensure that health care officials safely prescribe opioids and that the patients are aware of how to use these drugs safely.

But, is this enough? Doctors have been caught illegally prescribing oxycodone - even in New Jersey. On Sept. 14, Wayne psychiatrist Dr. Priscilla Ilem plead guilty in Camden Federal Court to distributing the drug illegally. Ilem admitted to writing 300 prescriptions without a medical reason in June and July of 2011, according to NJ.com.

How do you think highly addictive pain killers should be managed? Is the FDA doing enough?  TELL US IN THE COMMENTS.