Lots for u. S. News and report about a year ago. At the time only five states had passed right to try laos. Now it it has climbed to 24 states. Pretty quickly, and one year one of the senators, who supports this bill said it was the first piece of legislator he had come across those both prolife and prochoice. Lets just talk about what right to trial laws are. What right to try laws are is all about when your life hangs in the balance, when you have a terminal illness it is without giving you the right to try to fight to save your life by using experimental medicines while the understudy with the fda but before they receive that these final green light. The reason he calls that prolife and prochoice is because you have a choice as to whether or not you want to try some of these investigational medicines. It is prolife because instead of right to die laws we have not only the option to hasten your death but actually fight to live and prolong your life. In your book you talk about the Go
About 21,000 involve prescription drugs. And of those, 75 were painkillers. Zohydro is pure hydrocodone, five times more than the strongest vicodin. Not only that, it can be easily crushed and snorted. But lets not forget chronic pain is a huge issue, tens of millions suffer from it. Patient advocates say there is a place for a drug like this. Dr. Perrone disagrees. As a physician, as a drug safety person, this is not the choice thats going to help our population. Reporter perrone sat on an Advisory Panel that voted against zohydro 72. Against that recommendation, the the fda did agree to put it on the market. It ka are carries a warning statement. The manufacturer said, quote, the fact is that zohydro er is a novel Pain Medicine that fills an important medical need. Joining me from fda headquarters is commissioner dr. Margaret hamburg. Welcome to the program. Thanks for being here. Thank you. This whole issue seems to have stirred up a lot of controversy. Zohydro, state of massachuset
In the middle of a Prescription Drug epidemic and we thought that that was related to an upswing in prescriptions for these opioid analgese like longacting oxycodone. Roughly 20 of american have used Prescription Drugs recreationally. Of those 14 became addicted. Car crashes are no longer the number one reason people die accidentally in the United States. Nowadays, its actually Prescription Drugs. Thats because on any given day, people take more than the recommended dose. Mix and match or take medications not prescribed to them. Maybe take pills with alcohol and all of it can make for a deadly dose. In fact, the most recent data shows 37,000 Drug Overdose deaths in one year. Mostly accidental. About 21,000 involve Prescription Drugs. And of those, 75 were painkillers. Its pure hydrocodone, five times more than the strongest vicodin. Not only that, it can be easily crushed and snorted. But lets not forget chronic pain is a huge issue, tens of millions suffer from it. Patient advocates s
hope for these kids. reporter: if you were able to get this medication, what do you think it would do for you? i think it would help me be able to do be able to do the things i like and for it to be easier for me to do them, like play the drums. joining me now from washington is jen mcnary. you met her in the piece, austin and max s mother. the fate of this experimental drug has been in limbo for quite some time. just this week, the fda did lay out a road map for the company, to conduct more trials, to get the drug possibly to more children and potentially lead to its approval if the results pan out. jen, you and i had a long conversation about this. the new trial is not going to launch for a few months. when it does, first thing is first, will austin be able to get the drug, do you think? you know, the fda has allowed for a flexible trial design with no placebo, including non-ambulant children. so, in theory, austin fits.
i think it would help me be able to do be able to do the things i like and for it to be easier for me to do them, like play the drums. joining me now from washington is jen mcnary. you met her in the piece, austin and max s mother. the fate of this drug has been in limbo for quite some time. the fda did lay out a road map for the company, to conduct more trials, to get the drug possibly to more children and potentially lead to its approval if the ruls pan out. jen, you and i had a long conversation about this. the new trial is not going to launch for a few months. when it does, first thing is first, will austin be able to get the drug, do you think? you know, the fda has allowed for a flexible trial design with no placebo, including nonambulant children. so, in theory, austin fits. again, we don t get special treatment. he will be in line with all the other boys that could possibly benefit from this drug.