FDA Warns About Injecting Opana

The pain drug Opana ER — meant only to be taken orally — can cause a serious blood disorder that could result in kidney failure and death when the drug is directly injected into the blood stream.

Reuters reports that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned that abuse of the Opana — a powerful prescription painkiller containing oxymorphone— is associated with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, a blood disorder that has resulted in kidney failure requiring dialysis in some cases and leading to at least one death.

Opana causes the blood disorder only when injected intravenously, says the FDA. Opana abuse reportedly shot up after Oxycontin (a brand of oxycodone) was changed in 2010 to complicate snorting or injecting by drug abusers for a heroin-like high, according to Reuters.

Opana abuse can cause permanent damage to the body in the form of brain damage, stroke, and kidney failure.  But Opana is not the only painkiller that can be fatal when abused: data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that prescription pain drug abuse kills more people annually than the street drugs heroin and cocaine combined.

If you or a loved one has been harmed by a dangerous drug, contact Sokolove Law today for a free legal consultation and to find out if a dangerous drug lawyer may be able to help you.

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