U.S. FDA and FTC: Opioid Addiction and Health Fraud

Abstract

Opioid addiction is a serious health epidemic that affects millions of Americans. Opioids are a class of drugs that include: the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids (fentanyl), and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as: oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine and others. There are limited drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for opioid addition treatment. However, some marketers and distributors are illegally marketing products with unproven claims about their ability to help in the treatment of opioid addiction and withdrawal. Selling unapproved products with claims that they can treat opioid addiction and withdrawal is a violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C) Act, and making unsubstantiated therapeutic claims are also a violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits deceptive advertising.