THE DRUG CASCADE
OPIOID-INDUCED CONSTIPATION
AMITIZA
MEDICATION _ Lubiprostone
COMPANY _ Sucampo Pharmaceuticals and Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A.
OVERDOSE TREATMENT
NARCAN
MEDICATION _ Naloxone hydrochloride
COMPANY _ Opiant Pharmaceuticals and Adapt Pharma
OPIOID ADDICTION TREATMENT
REVIA
MEDICATION _ Naltrexone
COMPANY _ Duramed Pharmaceuticals
OPIOID-INDUCED CONSTIPATION
RELISTOR
MEDICATION _ Methylnaltrexone bromide
COMPANY _ Progenics Pharmaceuticals and Salix Pharmaceuticals
OVERDOSE TREATMENT
EVZIO
MEDICATION _ Naloxone hydrochloride
COMPANY _ Kaléo
OPIOID ADDICTION TREATMENT
VIVITROL
MEDICATION _ Naltrexone
COMPANY _ Alkermes
OPIOID ADDICTION TREATMENT
SUBOXONE
MEDICATION _ Buprenorphine/Naloxone
COMPANY _ Indivior
OPIOID-INDUCED CONSTIPATION
MOVANTIK
MEDICATION _ Naloxegol
COMPANY _ AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo
WHEN IT COMES TO KILLING PAIN THESE DAYS, A PRESCRIPTION FOR A HIGH-POWERED opioid is no longer enough. Once you’re taking, say, OxyContin or hydrocodone on a regular basis, you’ll probably get pills for the side effects: pills to control the nausea, pills to regulate your testosterone production, and pills to help you use the bathroom when the drugs numb the receptors in your intestines that are supposed to help move things along.
If you become addicted to painkillers, there are pills to help you stop taking the pills, by reducing the symptoms of withdrawal. And if you take too many pills, there’s a pill for that too. Or, rather, there’s a nasal spray, or an injection, or a nifty $4,100 auto-injector that announces, through a tiny speaker, how to
