Hydrocodone And Rescheduling

Rescheduling hydrocodone/APAP combos to CII seems to have mixed results. I believe that it was the ignorance of the use of liver damage with exceeding 4,000.mg of acetaminophen and not necessarily the abuse opioid factors. Your thoughts.

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Prescription meds containing Tylenol, where limited to a max of 325 mg of tylenol effective Jan 2014. Rescheduling hydrocodone combination meds became effective Oct 6 2014. There is no connection because drugs are scheduled according to their risk for abuse and addiction.

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Continuing thoughts on the previous post: The way they schedule drugs "according to risk for abuse/addiction" should in my opinion, be reconsidered on many accounts. 1st being that addictive behavior only stems from those individuals who are not disciplined in their decision making and that does not 'appear to' reflect the majority of our population as a whole (on the basis of prescription drugs). Sugar is probably considered to be one of the most addicting and heavily abused substances on the planet, causing a plethora of health problems (i.e. diabetes, neuralgia, etc), and is loosely available on every street corner/grocery isle. But a disciplined health conscious individual who knows better will do their best to avoid it at all costs.

I think the same goes for many of these medications... and as odd as it may sound to some people, my thoughts are that if the FDA/DEA is going to allow something like sugar to go uncontrolled, why put a schedule on things that are recognized as being less addictive/destructive such as opioids (which are only affecting a minority of our population compared to sugar and other dangerous additives, pesticides, & chemicals fortified in our food/water)? If I were their marketing rep, I'd be thinking that they just wanted to create a higher demand for it in order to maintain higher costs by making it less readily available. From this perspective it really seems to be mostly about profits and very little to do with risk factors.

My theory is that if they lower the amount of Acetaminophen, they can safely keep it on the market to continue making money off it. Notice though how the price of meds containing Acetaminophen hasn't really changed despite them only giving you half the amount as before. There are risks and potential for abuse/addiction to many substances controlled or not. But it has a lot to do with the individual who uses it and their personal behavior patterns that makes a substance more/less "addicting or dangerous" than others. With that said, our country should probably focus more on mental health than regulating substances.

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It isn't the actual cost of the active ingredients that is to blame for the cost of drugs. So the reduction of tylenol wouldn't make any difference. The cost to manufacture it, the cost of the rent and utilities, employees salaries and benefits, etc then the same thing for transportation, storage, dispensing, etc. For manufacturers there is also the cost of developement and clinical trials, etc.

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@BL,

Thanks for taking the time to respond! I do see what you're saying, and don't mind my previous post…I was just venting more so than anything in frustration to the situation at hand. What still boggles me though is how much these alleged manufacturing/development costs could have changed to reflect a higher price point on half the amount of their tylenol products, when I'm sure not much has "actually" changed in their procedures or facilities so much as their individual salaries and benefits. When gas/transportation prices go down as much as they have recently, the cost of things like produce gradually titrate accordingly, so one would think that the pharmaceutical industry might work in a similar fashion..but I guess that's simply not the case since mother earth doesn't offer dental benefits or 401k Lol.

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With the rescheduling of hydrocodone combination meds, it does make sense that the price would go up. The security requirements are stricter than when it was a Schedule III. And that increases costs from the manufacturer to the pharmacist that dispenses it.

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RE: Risk & dependence of hydrocodone/APAP.
The DEA claim that even at 325 Mg. Of acetaminophen, adolescents, teenagers and others WILL in fact take 5 to 15 or more caplets a day of this Rx with ETOH on top of it or other CYP 450 ISO ENZYMATIC INCREASING DRUGS. As we all know, liver damage is cumulative with Tylenol and others that cause fatty infiltration and hepatitis. So, according to the experts, the APAP services as little deterrent.

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