As the opioid epidemic continues to plague the nation, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, says he regrets the agency's previous inaction in response to the crisis , reports USA Today.
Dr. Gottlieb revealed his take on the opioid epidemic at the National Academy of Medicine's annual meeting, which was held in Washington, D.C. last week.
"We didn't get ahead of [the epidemic]. Nobody got ahead of it," Dr. Gottlieb said. "The type of action we need to take to finally address this crisis is going to be far more dramatic than we would have had to do had we made certain decisions years ago."
The FDA chief says he wants to avoid repeating the mistakes that were made at the agency in previous years, when the government failed to properly regulate opioids.
In response to the epidemic, Dr. Gottlieb is advocating for increased oversight of highly addictive opioids, stricter requirements for reformulated, injectable opioids and a cap on opioid prescriptions.