Health officials petition FDA for warning labels on painkillers

City and state health directors are urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to put warning labels on powerful painkillers that can be fatal when taken with other drugs.

In a petition, a group of health directors led by Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore's health commissioner, and Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, Rhode Island's health director, call for “black box warning” labels on opioids and benzodiazepines.

“Existing warnings about the concurrent use of opioids and benzodiazepines are inconsistent, infrequent, and insufficient,” Alexander-Scott said in a statement. “The FDA should act swiftly on the clear scientific evidence and add black box warnings to both classes of medication.”

Read more at: http://thehill.com/regulation/healthcare/270313-group-petitions-fda-for-...

Related Stories

Lead poisoning cases fell 19 percent in Baltimore last year, even as more children tested for exposure (Baltimore Sun)

The number of Baltimore children with lead poisoning fell 19 percent in 2017, even as more children were tested for exposure to the powerful neurotoxin.

Statewide, the number of Maryland children found to have elevated levels of lead in their blood held steady even as the number of children tested increased by 10 percent, according to a Maryland Department of the Environment report released Tuesday.

Read the entire story.

Azar Unveils Plan to Help Pregnant Patients Quit Opioids (MedPage Today)

States will get help from the federal government integrating services for pregnant and postpartum Medicaid patients with opioid use disorder under a pilot program announced Tuesday by Health and Hu

Trump declared an emergency over opioids. A new report finds it led to very little. (Vox)

To much fanfare last year, President Donald Trump ordered his administration to declare a public health emergency over the opioid epidemic. “As Americans, we cannot allow this to continue,” Trump said at the time. “It is time to liberate our communities from this scourge of drug addiction.”

When I’ve asked experts about these approaches, it’s not that any of them are bad. It’s that they fall short. For instance, Leana Wen, the former health commissioner of Baltimore (and soon-to-be president of Planned Parenthood), said that the Support for Patients and Communities Act “is simply tinkering around the edges.”

Read the entire story.