OPIOID
Opioids are a class of drugs that act on the nerve cells in the body and brain to relieve pain. There are different types of opioids like Buprenorphine, Butorphanol, Codeine, Fentanyl, Oxycodone. Hydrocodone, Hydromorphone, and Hydromorphone are opioids that are not commonly used.
Popular Opioids
- Buprenorphine - Subutex - FDA Approved in Oct 2002. Manufacturers: Actavis Elizabeth LLC, Hi-Tech Pharmacal Co., Inc, Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., Rhodes Pharmaceuticals L.P., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, West-Ward Pharmaceuticals
- Butorphanol - Stadol. Manufacturers: Generic formulations manufactured by Novex, Mylan, Apotex and Ben Venue Laboratories
- Codeine - Used in cough syrups, or in a combination with paracetamol (acetaminophen) or a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) such as aspirin or ibuprofen. Tylenol/Elixir are brand names.
- Fentanyl - Actiq, Duragesic, Fentora - FDA approved 1959. Manufacturer: Janssen Pharmaceuticals
- Oxycodone - OxyFast, OxyIR, OxyNorm, Roxicodone - FDA Approved in 1995. Manufacturers: Actavis, Apotex, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Mylan and many more
- Methadone - Dolophine - FDA approved in 1947. Manufacturers: Eli Lilly, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals
Opioids are on the market for ages and have been used basically for pain relief for post-surgical pain, cancer-related pain, chronic or persistent pain. Opioids when used in proper dosage and along with a combination of other pain treatments, work in relieving pain successfully, until unless there is a misuse or abuse of the drug.
Misuse/Abuse Of Opioids
Companies manufacturing Opioids convinced the medical community that these medications were not addictive and were purely beneficial. This belief raised the number prescriptions and sales unwarrantedly, resulting in a mass misuse of these drugs, to the extent that this was identified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a public issue and named it an ‘Opioid crisis’.