Creative Ways Drug Companies are Changing Drugs of Abuse

The FDA has taken a stance on decreasing drug abuse and pushing for drug companies to find ways to deter people from abusing prescribed medications (crushing, snorting or injecting tablets) or using medications the way they were not intended to be used.

Some of the novel drugs that have been created include:

• Hysingla is a harder to abuse hydrocodone that deters crushing, dissolving and injection because the contents turn into a thick gel when attempting to dissolve.
• Targiniq, when crushed and snorted or crushed, dissolved, and injected, the naloxone blocks the euporic effects of oxycodone making it less liked by abusers than oxycodone alone.
• Embeda is an agonist/antagonist combination of an extended release morphine with naltrexone. Naltrexone is not an active component unless the tablet is chewed, crushed, or dissolved.

Unfortunately, the most common route of abuse of these types of medications is the oral route. This cannot be addressed through the physical component of the tablets on the market but has been combated with changes such as state databases showing trends of prescription opioid fills and refills and also changing hydrocodone from a CIII to a CII causing more regulation and different rules for the pharmacist and prescriber to follow.