WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin praised the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to ask Endo Pharmaceutical to stop selling its opioid pain medicine, Opana ER.
The federal agency announced the request Thursday because of the national opioid epidemic, the first time it has asked for the removal of an opioid from the market.
“I raised this issue with Commissioner (Scott) Gottlieb and am pleased that he has taken this critical step,” the West Virginia Democrat said Friday. “While removing Opana from the market is a step in the right direction, there is more work to be done to prevent opioid addiction and to ensure every family impacted by the opioid epidemic has access to quality treatment facilities.”
Opana ER was introduced in 2006 to treat moderate-to-serve pain when a continuous remedy is needed over an extended period of time.
Endo had made the drug difficult to snort in 2012, but the FDA found people began injecting the drug, causing a rise in HIV and hepatitis C infections.