A Proactive Response to Prescription Opioid Abuse

Abstract

We at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continue to be deeply concerned about the growing epidemic of opioid abuse, addiction, and overdose — an epidemic directly related to the increasingly widespread misuse of powerful opioid pain medications. As the federal agency charged with ensuring that the drugs used by the U.S. public are both effective and safe, we are committed to working in partnership with other government agencies, health care providers, the medical products industry and, most important, patients and their families to deal proactively with this unfolding public health crisis, which has already profoundly affected individuals, families, and . . .