Opioid Painkillers Now More Difficult to Obtain

A commonly used opioid painkiller will now be harder to obtain, according to a recent report from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The new rules are for one of the most commonly abused and misused medications in America--hydrocodone combination drugs. The DEA published the new rules in the federal register Friday, reclassifying the hydrocodone combination, with rules that will go into effect 45 days from now.

As health officials estimate that close to 130 million prescriptions for hydrocodone products were written in the United States in 2013, alone, many users may abuse the drug. 

These highly addictive painkillers have been misused by young and old throughout the country, resulting in a number of overdoses that now even exceed the amount of deaths from cocaine.

Before the change goes into effect, prescriptions for brand-name hydrocodone-based drugs including Vicodin and Lortab, as well as hundreds of other genetic versions, can be renewed by up to five times without notice from a health care professional, according to Health Day. 

"This move - which closed the Vicodin loophole - will help bring the opioid addiction epidemic under control because it will lead to fewer pain patients and recreational users becoming addicted," said Andrew Kolodny, president of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, via Health Day. 

Hydrocodone alone has been grouped as a Schedule II drug since 1970.