Thirty city and state health directors from around the nation are calling on FDA to label opioid analgesics and benzodiazepines with its strongest warning. The directors are seeking a "black box" warning on the drugs.

Local and state health directors "are on the front lines of the opioid epidemic," says Leana Wen, the Baltimore health commissioner. "All of us have seen the toll of overdose deaths."

Adding a prominent warning to drug labels would alert both physicians and patients to the risks, says Nicole Alexander-Scott, director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, who submitted a petition to FDA Monday. She notes that the combination of opioid analgesics and benzodiazepines can cause people to stop breathing. A dozen additional doctors and health leaders cosigned the petition. "These kinds of warnings work," states Alexander-Scott. "Our voices are amplified if we all speak to FDA in unison."

Read more at: http://www.pharmacist.com/doctors-petition-fda-black-box-warning-combini...