Stricter guidelines to prevent painkiller abuse?

  

January 24, 2013 (WLS) -- Some 22 million Americans have misused prescription painkillers of one kind or another since 2002.

These drugs now rank only behind marijuana as a drug of abuse in the United States.

An FDA panel is meeting to discuss the fate of certain painkillers that contain an opiod, known as hydrocodone. That includes the most commonly prescribed vicodin.

The issue is whether to reclassify these drugs into a higher category of danger for misuse or abuse. But this is a contentious issue. Opponents of this move worry it could make it tougher for people who really need these drugs to get them.

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