History Repeating? Program Co-Director Comments on “Non-Addictive” Pain Pill in The Washington Post

A set of hands, one of which holds a glass of water, the other, a small pill. A new non-opioid pain pill purports to be an easy, non-addictive solution to common pain, but experts advise caution.

Posted in Announcements News | Tagged drug marketing, program director, Publications, research

This week, Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman, Co-Director of the M.S. HAPI program, commented on a new pain pill set for FDA review this January.

The drug is non-opioid and aims to be an alternative to prescription painkillers such as oxycodone, which was once itself marketed as a “nonaddictive” solution to pain (despite the fact that opioids are, in fact, addictive); however, experts warn that the trials to date have been too short to asses the long-term safety of extended use. Our program co-director, Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman, comments on the veracity of these claims in the article. Read more in The Washington Post.

A hand holds one small, oblong pill. On the left, white text reads as follows: "Adriane J. Fugh-Berman, a professor of pharmacology at Georgetown University Medical Center, said that a new non-opioid pain medication is a positive development but that it’s too early to claim that suzetrigine poses no addiction risk."