The Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s office reports that rapper Mac Miller died from an accidental overdose of cocaine, fentanyl and alcohol.
Miller is the latest celebrity to fall victim to the opioid crisis that has gripped the country.
Now the Food and Drug Administration has approved a more powerful opioid pill that is 10 times stronger than fentanyl.
The pill, Dsuvia, is 1,000 times stronger than morphine. Dsuvia is a fast-acting pill intended as a substitute for intravenous morphine for chronic pain sufferers.
The tiny pill, which dissolves under the tongue, can be used to provide instant pain relief to soldiers in the battlefield who are unable to swallow.
In a lengthy statement, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said there will be “very tight restrictions” to keep the drug out of the hands of recreational users and celebrity dope addicts.
Gottlieb said the drug was a very high priority for the Department of Defense, which helped fund the testing.
He said the FDA did not sidestep “the question of whether or not America needs another powerful opioid while in the throes of massive crisis of addiction.”
But critics are sounding the alarm.
“This drug is doomed. It’s dangerous and it will kill people,” said Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group.
Dsuvia, manufactured by AcelRx pharmaceuticals, will sell for $50 to $60 per pill.
Bootleg fentanyl sells on the streets for $10 to $20 per pill.
