As the saying goes, everything you read about in the news is true –except for those things you know personally. Case in point: coverage of the FDA’s approval of the pain medicine, Zohydro.
Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Rya Zobel granted a request by a drug manufacturer Zogenix for an injunction temporarily halting Gov. Deval Patrick’s attempt to ban the prescribing of the painkiller Zohydro.
Massachusetts Governor Deal Patrick and others who want to ban Zohydro argue that the FDA Advisory Committee voted against approval.
True, but not necessarily accurate.
At an FDA advisory committee, the agency is asked to defend its scientific thinking in public, before a panel of experts who can dissect results, challenge conclusions, and ensure no clinical stone goes unturned. Seldom reported, however, is that advisory committee votes are recommendations. They aren’t binding on the FDA.
An analysis of advisory committee recommendations compared to agency actions shows FDA followed committee advice 74% of the time. Interestingly, the agency overruled “no” votes only three times: (Tarceva for maintenance therapy in lung cancer, Avastin for breast cancer, and Micardis to lower blood pressure.) Since their approval, these medicines have saved, extended, and improved hundreds of thousands of lives.
So, what about the Zohydro decision? The soundbite you’ve likely heard is that the vote was against approval of the drug. That’s true. What you probably don’t know is that, by a vote of 11-2, the experts affirmed that there was no evidence to suggest Zohydro had greater abuse or addiction potential than any other opioid.
When the committee voted, Dr. Bob Rappaport, Director of the FDA’s Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Addiction, asked members to explain their votes. All but two said that while Zohydro had met their requirements for approval, their votes were meant to call greater attention to the agency’s regulation of opioids in general – not Zohydro specifically.
The FDA decided to approve Zohydro based on the agency’s judgment (and the advisory committee’s concordance) that the medicine is safe and effective. But the FDA also heeded the expert panel’s advice for better post-approval regulation of opioids. Shortly before Zohydro’s approval, the agency strengthened opioid labeling and post marketing requirements to address the concerns raised by the advisory committee.
A report by the Institute of Medicine found that 100 million Americans now live with chronic pain. That’s a third of the U.S. population. Ten million of those have pain so severe they are disabled by the pain.
The vast majority of people who use opioids do so legally and safely. A subset, about four percent, use them illegally. In the debate over safe and effective pain medicines, sound bites make headlines, but context matters more.
