Ensuring pain sufferers have access to prescription pain medication while addressing the skyrocketing number of drug overdose deaths is a critical challenge for elected officials looking for ways to stop this public health epidemic. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) recently released Optimizing the Abuse-deterrent Opioids Market, a report detailing new medical technologies that aid in working with pain patients who may be at a higher risk for addiction. Abuse-deterrent opioids are pain medications that help treat pain while preventing abuse for those who are at a higher-risk for addictive behavior.
Abuse-deterrent formulations (ADFs) can work in different ways. Some ADFs are designed to neutralize the opioid’s extended release component that addicts often seek through tampering with pills. Other ADFs will release an unpleasant agent into the body when more pills are ingested than are medically necessary.
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