Prescription Painkillers: Companies Attempt Abuse-Proof Opioids

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villian

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When the oxycodone brand called OxyContin was introduced in the late 1990s, its maker claimed that the drug's controlled-release mechanism would make it less likely to be abused.

The idea was that if it released its opioid slowly, rather than all at once, abusers wouldn't find the immediate rush they crave.

But it didn't take long for drug seekers to devise a workaround that foiled that plan.

Chewing the tablet, crushing it, or dissolving and injecting it -- all destroyed the timed-release mechanism, which unpacked the full opioid punch faster than you could say, "Your brain on drugs."

Since that failed attempt at making a "safe" opioid, researchers have been experimenting with ways to make all prescription painkillers "abuse-resistant."

Although OxyContin maker Purdue had its "tamper-proof" version approved last year, few other attempts to abuse-proof these drugs have made it on the market.

In June, however, the FDA is expected to issue a decision about another oxycodone product -- Acurox, Pfizer's attempt (through the acquisition of King Pharmaceuticals) at entry into the abuse-proof market.

And a handful of other companies are pursuing a pharmacological solution to help mitigate what the federal government has described as an epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse.

Some are attempting to prevent abusers not only from inhaling and injecting the drug, but also from taking multiple pills all at once.
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more @ http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainMa...attempt-abuse-proof-opioids/story?id=13427709
 
Yea i wanna see em do abuse proof opiods. The best chemists are drug users lol :D
 
When the oxycodone brand called OxyContin was introduced in the late 1990s, its maker claimed that the drug's controlled-release mechanism would make it less likely to be abused.
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What the fuck mechanism was that the coating that took 10 seconds to peel off? And what's up with the sentence underneath it, 'it didn't take junkies long to blah blah'? Yea it didn't take us long to figure out, gee if I crush this up im gonna get high. I figured that out when I was 17 and chewed up 2 40mg yellow OCs.
 
acurox...sounds like roxis are the next abuse proof item on their list....oh well
there goes the neighborhood
 
More people will just be harmed because of this bullshit. How about we deal with this shit through harm reduction and rehabilitation? Oh yea they make too much cash flow from this horseshit....
 
To be a contrary voice: I would have no objection to abuse-resistant pills if it meant that pain patients were getting the medication they needed. I'd also add that at least some of those anti-abuse mechanisms have saved lives. If Opana ER was as easy to bypass as the Contin system, the streets would be filled with dead junkies who IVed way too much oxymorphone: see the history of Numorphan suppositories for further details.
 
Kenaz said:
To be a contrary voice: I would have no objection to abuse-resistant pills if it meant that pain patients were getting the medication they needed. I'd also add that at least some of those anti-abuse mechanisms have saved lives. If Opana ER was as easy to bypass as the Contin system, the streets would be filled with dead junkies who IVed way too much oxymorphone: see the history of Numorphan suppositories for further details.
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I agree with the pain patient portion of this statement, mainly because I am a pain patient and have a problem getting the medication I need because of my age. I broke 3 vertabre in my back and was almost paralyzed and was put on morphine, but being only 27 years old it makes it a huge problem getting the medication filled at pharmacies. Most of the time the pharmacist gives me a dirty look or tell me I have to wait exactly 30 days to fill my script because they think I am a junkie who farmed docs til I got what I wanted.

If the pills were abuse-proof (which I doubt would ever happen) I imagine that there would be less 'red-tape' involved with getting pain medication from pharmacies. Still though it makes you think that even if that were to happen all the junkies would have to do is take more of the pills in order to abuse them....
 
Some are attempting to prevent abusers not only from inhaling and injecting the drug, but also from taking multiple pills all at once.
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what methods are they working on that could possibly prevent someone from taking multiple pills at once without interfering with pain treatment?
 
Mora Fiend said:
I agree with the pain patient portion of this statement, mainly because I am a pain patient and have a problem getting the medication I need because of my age. I broke 3 vertabre in my back and was almost paralyzed and was put on morphine, but being only 27 years old it makes it a huge problem getting the medication filled at pharmacies. Most of the time the pharmacist gives me a dirty look or tell me I have to wait exactly 30 days to fill my script because they think I am a junkie who farmed docs til I got what I wanted.

If the pills were abuse-proof (which I doubt would ever happen) I imagine that there would be less 'red-tape' involved with getting pain medication from pharmacies. Still though it makes you think that even if that were to happen all the junkies would have to do is take more of the pills in order to abuse them....
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If the pills cannot be injected (i.e. Opana ER), that will save a lot of lives. While it is certainly possible to OD from oral or intranasal use, neither hit quite so hard or so quickly as intravenous administration.
 
Purdue has this new product out in Canada called targin and along with oxycodone it also has naloxone in it as well. So it's basically oxycontin with narcan in it. I have never seen or heard of anyone getting a script for these and they aren't on the streets and since i would think they are pretty expensive and not covered by insurance i wouldn't say they will hit the streets anytime soon really.

As long as they don't fuck around with morphine or hydromorphone like this I'll be happy but if they do i will be awfully pissed about it :X
 
Kenaz said:
If the pills cannot be injected (i.e. Opana ER), that will save a lot of lives. While it is certainly possible to OD from oral or intranasal use, neither hit quite so hard or so quickly as intravenous administration.
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Opana ER -can- be injected, but the method is time consuming.
 
paranoid android said:
Purdue has this new product out in Canada called targin and along with oxycodone it also has naloxone in it as well. So it's basically oxycontin with narcan in it. I have never seen or heard of anyone getting a script for these and they aren't on the streets and since i would think they are pretty expensive and not covered by insurance i wouldn't say they will hit the streets anytime soon really.
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I saw a thread in ADD about this.. I don't remember clearly but I want to say the discussion was about how adding small amounts of naloxone to full agonist opiates could help keep tolerance lower?

If the pills cannot be injected (i.e. Opana ER), that will save a lot of lives. While it is certainly possible to OD from oral or intranasal use, neither hit quite so hard or so quickly as intravenous administration.
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This is a bad idea as has already been proven. People are going to inject shit regardless of what you put in it. You aren't preventing junkies from shooting they are just shooting horribly unhealthy shit instead. Lots of the pills already on the market specifically have shit like talc in them for no reason other then to "prevent" IDU (injecting drug users) from abusing them.. guess what? They do it anyway and many of them lose limbs because of it..
 
qwe said:
what methods are they working on that could possibly prevent someone from taking multiple pills at once without interfering with pain treatment?
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Well, the example in the article Acurox, is available as IR oxycodone combined with niacin in a 5mg oxycodone:30mg niacin ratio (it is also available as oxycodone only, but designed to gel up if snorted or dissolved to inject). The idea is the unpleasant effects of niacin in high doses will deter people from abuse.

But, even Acura Pharmaceuticals own studies conclude that eating a high fat meal before ingestion mitigates the niacin flushing sensation (other sources say a single dose of aspirin or ibuprofin would as well), so it's unlikely to be too effective.

IMO, there is no such thing as an "abuse proof" opioid. I think the abuse potential cannot be separated from the therapeutic effects of these drugs.
 
Kenaz said:
If the pills cannot be injected (i.e. Opana ER), that will save a lot of lives. While it is certainly possible to OD from oral or intranasal use, neither hit quite so hard or so quickly as intravenous administration.
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I expect additives that gel up when dissolved in water or snorted or are going to be the standard for opioid pills in the future. In fact, is there currently any available ER opioid, besides original formulation Purdue Oxycontin, that doesn't have this mechanism already?

I'm actually surprised Roxicodone and Dilaudid are still so widely prescribed given how readily they can be put into solution for IV administration. I suppose there are doctors who prefer using the tried and true, old school preparations of drugs.
 
I expect additives that gel up when dissolved in water or snorted or are going to be the standard for opioid pills in the future. In fact, is there currently any available ER opioid, besides original formulation Purdue Oxycontin, that doesn't have this mechanism already?
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There is no original formulation Oxycontin, they re-formulated it and took the old ones of the market (but people still inject them just requires lots more effort)

NSFW:
oxycontinOP.png

attachment.php
 
villian said:
This is a bad idea as has already been proven. People are going to inject shit regardless of what you put in it. You aren't preventing junkies from shooting they are just shooting horribly unhealthy shit instead. Lots of the pills already on the market specifically have shit like talc in them for no reason other then to "prevent" IDU (injecting drug users) from abusing them.. guess what? They do it anyway and many of them lose limbs because of it..
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If it gels up to the point where you can't pull it up in a needle or push it through they won't be shooting it. But yes, I agree that anti-abuse mechanisms are going to wind up injuring some people who try to IV the pills despite everything. The only solution to that is education, but I'm not even sure how successful that can be. I wish there was an easy solution to the problem.

But since I know that some people won't/can't be saved, I'd rather concentrate on efforts to get pain pills to patients who need them. And if that means giving them pills with anti-abuse mechanisms, so be it. In an ideal world recreational users would be able to get their recreational drugs and medicinal users would be able to get their medicine. Unfortunately, it isn't an ideal world. So I'll settle for making sure that people can get something to alleviate their pain.
 
Kenaz said:
If it gels up to the point where you can't pull it up in a needle or push it through they won't be shooting it. But yes, I agree that anti-abuse mechanisms are going to wind up injuring some people who try to IV the pills despite everything. The only solution to that is education, but I'm not even sure how successful that can be. I wish there was an easy solution to the problem.

But since I know that some people won't/can't be saved, I'd rather concentrate on efforts to get pain pills to patients who need them. And if that means giving them pills with anti-abuse mechanisms, so be it. In an ideal world recreational users would be able to get their recreational drugs and medicinal users would be able to get their medicine. Unfortunately, it isn't an ideal world. So I'll settle for making sure that people can get something to alleviate their pain.
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Here's a wild idea make pills that are made for injection. That way you reduce the complications from IV drug use dramatically and i doubt the od's will increase much.
 
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