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For Immediate Release: March 11, 2013
Attorneys General Call for Tamper-Resistant Versions of Generic Prescription Pain Relievers
Washington, DC---The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) today sent a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging it to adopt standards requiring manufacturers and marketers of generic prescription opioids to develop tamper-resistant versions of those products. Prescription drug abuse is a significant danger, reaching epidemic levels in many states. Opioids relieve pain and codeine, hydrocodone (e.g. Vicodin) and oxycodone (e.g. OxyContin, Percocet) fall into this medication class.
“In our states, nonmedical users are shifting away from the new tamper-resistant formulations to non-tamper-resistant formulations of other opioids as well as to illegal drugs,” reads the NAAG letter signed by 48 state and territorial attorneys general. “There is great concern in our law enforcement community that many non-tamper-resistant products are available for abuse when only a few products have been formulated with tamper-resistant features.”
The letter applauds the FDA for developing guidelines that will assist with the formulations of opioid drugs with abuse-deterrent properties, but encourages the agency to ensure generic versions of such products are designed with similar features.
“Adding new physical and chemical features to prescription opioids to deter abuse could reduce misuse of these drugs and the sometimes deadly consequences,” reads the NAAG letter, which can be found here: http://www.naag.org/sign-on_archive.php.
Attorneys general remain in the forefront of combating the prescription abuse epidemic by sponsoring drug-take back efforts and spearheading legislative and law enforcement initiatives in their respective jurisdictions.
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The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), www.naag.org, was founded in 1907 to help Attorneys General fulfill the responsibilities of their office and to assist in the delivery of high quality legal services to the states and territorial jurisdictions.
