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A new FDA-approved painkiller isn't set to hit pharmacy shelves until next month, but critics are already warning it could kill—with just two pills. Zohydro, which the FDA gave the green light in October against the advice of its advisory panel, will serve as a powerful pain pill for those who can't get relief from what's already out there. It contains the same basic ingredient (hydrocodone) as Vicodin, but it has 5 to 10 times the power, Forbes notes, and without the added acetaminophen. As an expert on the advisory board who voted "no" tells NBC News, that acetaminophen deters savvy addicts from loading up on Vicodin for fear of liver damage. Like OxyContin, Zohydro is a "pure narcotic"; but unlike OxyContin, the Zohydro set to be released isn't tamper resistant, and can easily be crushed, then snorted or injected.

"In the midst of a severe drug addiction epidemic fueled by overprescribing of opioids, the very last thing the country needs is a new, dangerous, high-dose opioid," some 40 experts wrote to the FDA in a call for Zohydro's reevaluation.

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Do you get the feeling our government is trying to thin the population a bit?

Death Panels anyone? Zerocares solution to the old and infirm anyone?


"Take two of these and have your next of kin call me in the morning"