• N&PD Moderators: Skorpio | thegreenhand

Lacosamide: Abuse Potential

I was talking about depakote, as you seem to be. Depakote isn't a scheduled drug.

Lyrica hasn't been prescribed nearly to the extent of gabapentin. not remotely. Obviously the scheduling has an impact.
 
I was talking about depakote, as you seem to be. Depakote isn't a scheduled drug.

Lyrica hasn't been prescribed nearly to the extent of gabapentin. not remotely. Obviously the scheduling has an impact.

There are other reasons. Neurontin was prescribed off-label for everything under the sun under the FDA brought down the hammer. That and it is cheap as hell as a generic. People tend to go for cheaper drugs, and believe it or not, doctors tend to prescribe them more for that very reason. They know that they are less likely to have to deal with insurance companies who otherwise might fight to not pay for brand.
 
the FDA didn't "bring down the hammer" because it was being prescribed for so many things off-label. They brought the hammer down because of the marketing practices they were using. It's still heavily used off label.
 
^Yes, this is a proper clarification. However, you might have to admit that this helps explain such prevalent usage of gabapentin vs. Lyrica.
 
Yeah, it could- a little bit. However, unlike Neurontin, Lyrica has benefitted from fairly long term direct-to-consumer marketing. As I write this I'm watching a Lyrica commercial on television, actually. Weird, two in a row- Lyrica followed by Humira.

The biggest factor has to be scheduling. Off-label scheduling was so incredibly common with Neurontin was common for a number of reasons, I doubt that in-office conversations sales people had with doctors contributed even 10%, though.

Lyrica isn't being prescribed off-label because it's scheduled. For one, doc's don't like to prescribe anything that's scheduled. Some less so than others (to be a little pedantic, some probably do like to, but that's a real minority), but none want to risk accusations of malpractice. At least as sizable a reason is the insurance companies. They hate paying for off-label use of prescription drugs, and really really hate paying for off-label use of controlled drugs. My insurance would gladly pay for gabapentin to treat anxiety, but would never consider Lyrica for the same purpose.

Anyway, the point is moot. Ultimately the DEA denied my request for a hearing because I failed to meet the definition of an "interested person."

Trying again with the JWH ban.
 
bump. Is there any history of lacosamide abuse in its first 6 years of availability? I am wondering if the DEA was correct in scheduling this substance. It has descheduled stuff before. Example: EEMT.

btw, this thread should be Best of Bluelight.
 
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