Scott Gottlieb, MD, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, is asking his agency to implement new safety standards for prescribing immediate-release opioids, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Dr. Gottlieb's request is part of efforts to stem the nationwide opioid crisis.
During a talk at an FDA workshop of public health officials, Dr. Gottlieb said the agency will begin requiring drugmakers to offer expanded training for physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals who administer immediate-release opioids.
"It's time to take direct action to address the close to 200 million opioid analgesic prescriptions each year that are for the immediate release products," Dr. Gottlieb said, according to the report. "The new training will be aimed at making sure providers who write prescriptions for the IR opioids are doing so for properly indicated patients, and under appropriate clinical circumstances."
The training would also include more information on non-drug and non-opioid approaches to pain management. The FDA will also begin a study of physicians' understanding of abuse-deterrent characteristics of different pain drugs.
"The potential for abuse doesn't necessarily correlate with the potential for addiction," he said, The Wall Street Journal reported. "Patients can still become addicted to opioid products with abuse deterrent features. We need to make sure these different risks are fully understood" by healthcare providers, as well as patients.