If there was anything the United States needed, it was a brand-new prescription painkiller. Right?
In what comes as bad news for hydrocodone, oxycodone, and fentanyl, but good news for people in pain, the Food & Drug Administration has officially granted approval to a new non-opioid painkiller — Journavx.
From NBC News:
The drug, Journavx, or suzetrigine, was approved to treat moderate to severe acute, or short-term, pain in adults. Experts say the drug, which is billed as nonaddictive, could reduce the number of opioids patients are prescribed after surgery or be used by patients who can't take other pain medications — though several told NBC News they would like to see more research.
Thankfully, the new drug has shown no signs of making patients dependent upon it, potentially opening up a new option for pain management without the addictive nature of opioids.
'We know from CDC data that anyone who gets exposed to opioids has the potential to have dependence on them,' said Dr. Richard Rosenquist, enterprise chairman in the department of pain management in the Neurological Institute at the Cleveland Clinic.
'Right now all the evidence suggests this has no addiction potential at all. It's no different than Tylenol or ibuprofen in terms of addiction potential.'
Researchers caution, however, that while the new drug may be effective for acute pain in the short term, it may have little to no long-term effectiveness for chronic pain sufferers.
The main goal of the development is to have fewer people on opioid painkillers, however, it has not proven to be much stronger than Tylenol or ibuprofen.
On the bright side, it may leave more fentanyl available for the junkies who need it.
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