A month after Jesse’s death, the FDA approved a new high-potency, long-acting version of hydrocodone, Zohydro ER, even after its own expert panel voted 11–2 against it, noting that the drug, which lacked an abuse deterrent, could lead to the same level of addiction and abuse as OxyContin had in its original form. The FDA concluded that “the benefits of this product outweigh the risks.” It would be four more years before the FDA would ask a pharmaceutical company to withdraw an opioid pain medication because of its potential for abuse—Opana ER, and not until 2017—and by then the annual death
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