In the United States, the federal government is in the final stages of putting new restrictions in place regarding the use of numerous drugs containing hydrocodone. Hydrocodone is a highly addictive pain reliever that is also one of the most prescribed drugs in the country.
With the new restrictions, drugs like Lortab and Vicodin, or their generic counterparts, will now be subjected to the same prescribing rules as controlled drugs. The FDA can now limit the medication to a single prescription that is good for the patient's 90-day supply. Any more than that will require a visit to a licensed health professional for a refill and, for this, many states require doctors' prescriptions and will not accept those that come from physician assistants or nurses.
The reclassification of hydrocodone use came years after a recommendation from the Drug Enforcement Administration, warning the public against hydrocarbon use because of it significantly higher risk for addiction and abuse. Doctors, as well as the Food And Drug Administration, had previously opposed this proposal, saying that such a move would be an encumbrance for patients and health care providers alike, not to mention drive up the cost of the medication.
However, during the past years, the FDA changed its standpoint on the issue when the national epidemic of deaths and overdose cases associated to opioids, which were also classified as prescription painkillers, more than tripled in less than a year between 1999 and 2010. During this period, there was also a noticeable increase in the sale of opioids. According to the group Physicians For Responsible Opioid Prescribing, "Had FDA responded in a timely and appropriate manner to DEA's urgent requests, thousands of overdose deaths and tens of thousands of cases of opioid addiction might have been prevented." This scenario came as a wake-up call for the FDA, especially since hydrocodone has always been much easier to prescribe than opioids.
