Drugmakers to stop making controversial fentanyl lollipops, FDA says
CBSN
Drugmakers have decided to stop selling a kind of controversial fentanyl painkiller at the end of this month, the Food and Drug Administration said this week, marking an end to a controversial brand of "fentanyl lollipops" and other formulations blamed for playing a part in fueling the opioid overdose epidemic.
The end of sales of the drugs, which doctors call transmucosal immediate release fentanyl or TIRF medications, follows decades of investigations and lawsuits against the drugmakers that had aggressively marketed the fast-acting and powerful painkillers.
"As of the date of this announcement, there are fewer than 150 patients receiving treatment with TIRF medicines," the FDA said in a statement published this week. Patients who are currently on a one of these medicine may continue treatment while the supply is available, according to the statement.
