MONTPELIER, Vt. — The six New England governors are urging the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary to reverse the Food and Drug Administration's approval of a powerful new painkiller, Zohydro.
In a letter dated Thursday, the governors of Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island tell Secretary Sylvia Burwell that the region is in the midst of an addiction crisis.
The drug Zohydro is an extended-release capsule that contains up to five times the amount of narcotic hydrocodone previously available in pills.
The letter says the drug's maker is preparing to seek approval for an abuse-deterrent formulation.
The governors say the likelihood of abuse of the current drug and the anticipated availability of an alternative are grounds to rescind the approval.
They say the states don't need another high-risk drug.