The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will reduce next year’s production of nearly all Schedule II drugs, including prescription opioids, by 25-percent. Drug expert Carol Falkowski says “with the opioid crisis everybody needs to do something and that is law enforcement, the practice of medicine, consumers, and families and communities. So this is just another tool – in the tool box. So we’ll see what happens. ”
Falkowski says while this is great news, she hopes it won’t alienate the people who truly need these medications:
Three powerful, addictive painkillers will see the most significant reductions from what is allowed on the market this year: hydrocodone (34% reduction), oxymorphone (45% reduction), and hydromorphone (38% reduction).
Last week’s announcement by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) represents the largest decrease in opioid production quotas in two decades.