Legal Commentary

Late Night: Sister Morphine

By Jeralyn

The FDA backed down today, after pleas from hospice workers, and canceled a block on an unapproved liquid morphine that helps the terminally ill.

Bowing to the pleas of hospice experts, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has backed off its intent to remove from the market an unapproved liquid morphine painkiller given to dying patients.

Dr. Douglas Throckmorton, deputy director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, told the Associated Press Thursday that the morphine liquid will remain on the market until replaced by an approved version or some other equivalent therapy.

A big thanks to the FDA for being so responsive.

[Throckmorton] told AP, reaction from hospice experts and others "helped us understand" that some patients need the unapproved version.

Dying is bad enough, to die in physical pain is something we can prevent, and should.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on April 10, 2009 (boomark / email).