FDA Approves OxyContin for Children As Young As 11

[ioenter]

The Food and Drug Administration has approved limited use of the powerful and frequently abused painkiller OxyContin for children as young as 11 years old, the agency announced Thursday.

Dr. Sharon Hertz, director of new anesthesia, analgesia and addiction products for the FDA, said studies by Purdue Pharma of Stamford, Connecticut, which manufactures the drug, "supported a new pediatric indication for OxyContin in patients 11 to 16 years old and provided prescribers with helpful information about the use of OxyContin in pediatric patients."

OxyContin is a long-release version of oxycodone, an opioid that acts on the brain like heroin and is intended for only the most severe and chronic pain cases.

Because oxycodone and other opioids are extremely powerful and highly addictive, they're very tightly regulated — and very popular with addicts and pill pushers.

IMAGE: OxyContin pills
OxyContin was reformulated in 2010 to make it harder for addicts to crush the pills for a quick high. AP
Purdue reformulated OxyContin five years ago to make it harder for patients to crush the pills for a fast high.

Hertz said the FDA was putting strict limits on the use of OxyContin in children. Unlike adults, children must already have shown that they can handle the drug by tolerating a minimum dose equal to 20 milligrams of oxycodone for five consecutive days, she said.

"We are always concerned about the safety of our children, particularly when they are ill and require medications and when they are in pain," she said. "OxyContin is not intended to be the first opioid drug used in pediatric patients, but the data show that changing from another opioid drug to OxyContin is safe if done properly."

The only other time-release opioid approved for children is the Duragesic patch, which releases fentanyl

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Big Pharma needs those addicts waaay younger to beef up their future sales...

 

[sman]

What's wrong with the less powerful pain meds for kids? Things like hydrocodone. Still plenty addictive. Can't believe they need the more powerful Oxy to give to kids. I wonder how many doctors will actually prescribe it?

I've had a few surgeries in my life and the hardest pain med I've ever been given is hydrocodone. Never had a doctor prescribe Oxy. Hopefully there aren't many who will do it.

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Having tried things in life, oxycontin should be reclassified from a pain reliever to paralyzer, it should be used in psychwards. My cousin went from this stuff to heroin, and it still fighting her addiction to this day...the stuff is evil.

 

[AllenChicago]

In reality, the FDA approval "process" is not really a process, but some govt officially saying "Allow It", or "Don't Allow It"?

 

[Justin Bilyj]

The FDA has to be, next to the SEC, one of the most corrupt, bought out agency in the federal government...

 

[LGilmore]

Son is a MD and there is a rise in Heroin use in America as it is a cheaper alternative to Oxy. People are getting hooked on Oxy and moving into heroin to replace the high.

Seems to be one of the most over prescribed drugs in the country to begin with. Most of the time you can't tell if it's a low tolerance for pain or just dealing with reality.

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Most of the time you can't tell if it's a low tolerance for pain or just dealing with reality.

that's the problem with opiate addiction, these two reasons often become intertwined..

 

[sman]

Having tried things in life, oxycontin should be reclassified from a pain reliever to paralyzer, it should be used in psychwards. My cousin went from this stuff to heroin, and it still fighting her addiction to this day...the stuff is evil.

Yep. When the ability to get pills becomes too difficult, people turn to heroin. It's amazing that heroin is cheaper than pain pills. That should tell you something right there.

I had an extensive foot surgery in 2008. I had 4 pins sticking out of 4 of my toes for 4 weeks (that's a lot of 4's). Needless to say I was taking pain pills daily for about a month. I can see how someone can become addicted. I feel I have a very high tolerance for pain. Having just "sucked it up" for years prior to having the surgery (I was in pain on a daily basis prior to surgery - every step I took caused pain in that foot). Then, not having pain because of these magic little pills was amazing. I didn't realize how much pain I was in until I didn't have pain anymore. Suffice it to say, I told the doc I didn't want them anymore and I would just manage with tylenol and ibuprofen.

I had an outpatient surgery last summer and when the doc handed me the written prescription, I looked at it and handed it back to him. Told him I didn't want it. He said I may be in more pain than tylenol and ibuprofen can alleviate. He convinced me to at least take the written prescription with me just in case. I never got it filled.

Like you, I have a cousin who had a pain pill addiction. He struggled for a while. Finally went through a Teen Challenge program (he was actually in his twenties). He had success for a while and then went back to using, but he finally beat it. I'm sure he still has his demons from time to time though.

The idea of losing everything I've worked so hard to get scares me enough to not even want to ever take a pain pill. You watch the shows like Intervention and you see these seemingly normal people (like you and me), lose everything. Their job, their family, their home, just hitting rock bottom and still wanting the drug more than everything else.

Like you said, it's evil.

 

[LGilmore]

having spent this past year going through all the stuff I did and ending up with an amputation to top it off, I have to say you have to exercise some self control with pain meds as they are made readily available. Post surgery I could have doped myself up pretty good, but actually I was more afraid of the pills than the pain.

There was a healthy fear of addiction that actually helped me deal with the difference between discomfort and real pain.