Act to Ban Zohydro

Act to Ban Zohydro - Ends the sale and distribution of pure hydrocodone bitartrate extended-release capsules (marketed as Zohydro ER) within 45 days by withdrawing approval for its new drug application. Prohibits the Commissioner of Food and Drugs (FDA) from approving any new drug application for the capsules unless they are formulated to prevent abuse.

[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4241 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4241

To withdraw approval for the drug Zohydro ER and prohibit the Food and 
Drug Administration from approving such drug unless it is reformulated 
                           to prevent abuse.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 13, 2014

Mr. Lynch (for himself, Mr. Rogers of Kentucky, Mr. Grimm, Ms. DeLauro, 
 Mr. Keating, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Michaud, Ms. Shea-Porter, 
 Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Higgins, and Ms. Clark of Massachusetts) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To withdraw approval for the drug Zohydro ER and prohibit the Food and 
Drug Administration from approving such drug unless it is reformulated 
                           to prevent abuse.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Act to Ban Zohydro''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The drug Zohydro ER is a high-dose hydrocone-only 
        opioid narcotic painkiller listed in schedule II of section 
        202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812(c)).
            (2) The Food and Drug Administration Analgesic Drug 
        Products Advisory Committee report cited available dosages of 
        Zohydro ER that, according to health care and substance abuse 
        professionals, have up to 10 times more hydrocodone than any 
        hydrocodone painkiller currently on the market.
            (3) Zohydro ER is manufactured without an abuse deterrent 
        formulation.
            (4) Zohydro's time-released effect, an important element of 
        its pharmaceutical use, is easily negated by abusers to achieve 
        a heroin-like effect.
            (5) The Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee 
        concluded that, if approved and marketed, Zohydro ER will be 
        abused, possibly at a rate greater than that of currently 
        available hydrocodone combination products.
            (6) The Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory 
        Committee voted 11 to 2 against approval of Zohydro ER, citing 
        the high possibility for addiction.
            (7) The Food and Drug Administration approved Zohydro ER 
        without an abuse deterrent formulation despite the fact that 
        the Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee 
        voted 11 to 2 against doing so.
            (8) The Food and Drug Administration has acknowledged that 
        the widespread abuse of opioid drugs across the country has 
        reached epidemic proportions in some parts of the country.
            (9) According to the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention, deaths connected to prescription opioids have more 
        than quadrupled in the United States, from 4,030 deaths 
        involving the painkillers in 1999 to 16,651 deaths in 2010.
            (10) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has 
        identified reducing deaths attributable to prescription 
        painkiller abuse and overdose as a top health priority for 
        2014.
            (11) Attorneys General from 28 States have asked the Food 
        and Drug Administration to reconsider its approval of Zohydro 
        ER.
            (12) Health care professionals, addiction treatment 
        providers, and community-based drug and alcohol prevention 
        programs are groups opposed to the approval of Zohydro ER.
            (13) The burdens of Zohydro ER to the public health 
        outweigh its potential therapeutic benefits. Given that 
        alternative pain medicines and methods are widely available, 
        approval of Zohydro ER should be withdrawn until such time that 
        there is available a Food and Drug Administration-approved 
        abuse deterrent formulation.

SEC. 3. WITHDRAWAL OF APPROVAL OF DRUG ZOHYDRO ER.

    (a) Withdrawal of Approval.--Effective beginning on the day that is 
45 days after the date of enactment of this Act, approval of the 
application with respect to pure hydrocodone bitartrate extended-
release capsules (marketed as the drug Zohydro ER) under section 505(c) 
of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355(c)) is 
deemed to have been withdrawn under section 505(e) of such Act (21 
U.S.C. 355(e)).
    (b) No Approval of Any Formulation That Is Not Abuse Deterrent.--
The Commissioner of Food and Drugs shall not approve any application 
under section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 
U.S.C. 355) for pure hydrocodone bitartrate extended-release capsules 
unless such drug is formulated to prevent abuse.
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