Hydrocodone Status About to Change
Those who have to take Hydrocodone related drugs need to take note.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is informing Texans that hydrocodone combination products (HCPs) have been moved from the classification of a Schedule III drug to the more-restrictive Schedule II drug, effective in October.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’srescheduling of HCPs as Schedule II controlled substances will increase the restrictions on prescribing and dispensing practices for hydrocodone combination drugs.
HCPs are drugs that contain both hydrocodone – which by itself is a Schedule II drug – and specified amounts of other substances, such as acetaminophen or aspirin.
The federal Controlled Substances Act places substances with accepted medical uses into one of four schedules, with the substances with the highest potential for harm and abuse being placed in Schedule II, and substances with progressively less potential for harm and abuse being placed in Schedules III through V.
(Schedule I is reserved for those controlled substances with no currently accepted medical use and lack of accepted safety for use.)
For additional information on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announcement, visit:http://www.justice.gov/dea/divisions/hq/2014/hq082114.shtml.
DPS is also reminding Texans that tramadol is now a Schedule IV controlled substance. For more information, see http://www.justice.gov/dea/index.shtml.
More From Eagle 106.3
