Last week, an FDA advisory committee recommended that the popular prescription painkillers Vicodin and Percocet, which combine acetaminophen with a narcotic opiates, are prohibited. The move by the FDA panel did not happen in response to allegations of abuse, but rather the fear that drugs that contain acetaminophen can cause liver damage. Gordy Weinand, community relations director for Narconon Drug Rehab of Georgia, said: “We welcome this recommendation. Although we at Narconon of Georgia to continue to give warnings at the local level on these drugs, a declaration of FDA will be widely understood and, consequently, many lives will be saved. “Vicodin is done as a mixture of hydrocodone and acetaminophen. Acetaminophen acts as pain and fever reducer. Hydrocodone is a synthetic mixture of codeine and thebaine alkaloid opiates opiates. Codeine acts as a cough suppressant and analgesic, while thebaine is added for its stimulant effects. Percocet is composed potent analgesic used to treat moderately severe to severe acute (short term) pain. The main ingredient in Percocet is oxycodone, a powerful opiate, again, the medicine contains acetaminophen. It is easy to obtain acetaminophen too much because the drug is in many medicines and some additional daily doses can cause liver problems. Liver damage from acetaminophen too tends to cause symptoms at once, within days of taking too much. These can include nausea, vomiting and jaundice – yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes. Dr. William M. Lee, a liver disease specialist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas who testified before the committee said: “The proposed ban on Vicodin and Percocet is justified because they are so easy to abuse, Lee said. Narcotics in these drugs are addictive and can lead users to take doses higher and higher – but it also means increasing amounts of high acetaminophen. It has no sense to combine a highly addictive drug to poison dose-dependent. It’s like putting poison and candy together. ” More Americans are abusing prescription drugs than cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, Ecstasy and inhalants combined. This statement by the Drug Enforcement Administration is a small step to address the growing crisis of drug abuse against America.
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