Did the FDA Spark the Opioid Epidemic?

Can changing a few words on a prescription label be the reason for the current opioid epidemic facing our country?  According to drug manufacturer Ed Thompson, the FDA is at the root of the problem.

The expanded use of opioid pain medication was precipitated by a label change that says the pain pills are effective for “daily, around-the-clock, long-term...treatment.”  According to Thompson, this label change allowed drug companies to expand the marketing of opioids in higher doses for a longer duration.

For example, when Oxycontin was first approved by the FDA is was for short-term use, however in 2001, the FDA decision to change the label, allowed for the use of Oxycontin to be prescribed to patients with chronic ailments such as arthritis and back pain. Did this fateful decision by the FDA cause society to face its current opioid crisis?

Watch the story unfold on “60 Minutes” 

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