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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: FDA approves painkiller designed to thwart abuse

From wire reports

WASHINGTON – The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new combination pain pill from the maker of OxyContin that is designed to discourage abuse by painkiller addicts.

Purdue Pharma’s new drug Targiniq ER is an extended release tablet that combines oxycodone – the active ingredient in OxyContin – with the drug naloxone. FDA regulators approved the drug for daily, round-the-clock pain that does not respond to other medications.

If abusers crush the tablets for snorting or injecting, naloxone blocks the euphoric effects of oxycodone, making the drug more difficult to abuse. Naloxone is currently used to reverse the overdose effects of opioids: highly addictive painkilling drugs including morphine, methadone, codeine and others.

The FDA notes that Targiniq can still be abused by simply swallowing the tablets, the most frequent method of painkiller abuse.

GM issues more recalls

DETROIT – General Motors issued six more recalls on Wednesday, bringing its annual total to 60 recalls covering almost 30 million vehicles.

The latest recalls cover nearly 823,000 cars, trucks and SUVs mostly in North America but including a small number of exports. The largest is for faulty seats in just over 475,000 cars and small SUVs. Other problems include incomplete welds on seat brackets, turn signal failures, power steering failures, loose suspension bolts and faulty roof rack bolts.

GM is conducting a companywide safety review as it tries to correct a dysfunctional corporate culture in which safety was a low priority.

Retail forecast lowered

NEW YORK – The nation’s largest retail trade group has pared its annual sales forecast because of slower-than-expected growth during the first half of the year tied to winter storms and lingering economic woes.

The Washington-based National Retail Federation said Wednesday it now expects retail sales to rise 3.6 percent this year to $3.19 trillion, instead of its original prediction of a 4.1 percent increase, released in early February.

The figures include sales in stores and online but exclude automotive sales and sales at gas stations and restaurants. Online sales, which account for about 6 percent of total sales, are expected to rise about 10 percent this year, according to the National Retail Federation.