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   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   A new type of non-opioid painkiller, aimed at treating short-term pain in   
   adults, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).   
      
   The drug suzetrigine, known by its brand name Journavx, works by targeting   
   pain signals before they reach the brain.   
      
   Its manufacturer Vertex Pharmaceuticals said this enables it to provide   
   effective relief for moderate to severe pain without "the addictive   
   potential of opioids".   
      
   The US has been grappling with a painkiller-addiction crisis for years. In   
   2017 US President Trump called it a "national shame" and declared a public   
   health emergency .   
      
   The FDA said clinical trials had showed that Jounavx reduced pain after   
   surgery, and called its approval "an important public health milestone in   
   acute pain management".   
      
   Every year, tens of thousands of Americans die from opioid use, with   
   82,000 opioid-involved overdose deaths in 2022, according to the US Center   
   for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).   
      
   Now in his second term, President Trump has said he will hit imports from   
   Canada and Mexico with 25% border taxes in part to address the large   
   amounts of fentanyl - a powerful synthetic opioid - crossing into the   
   country.   
      
   The president has also threatened to impose tariffs on China, citing the   
   country's fentanyl exports as a reason.   
      
   Opioids work by stimulating opioid receptors in the brain, blocking pain   
   signals.   
      
   During the process, the brain also floods with the neurotransmitter   
   dopamine, creating feelings of euphoria and activating the brain's reward   
   system.   
      
   This makes opioids highly addictive. Vertex estimates nearly 10% of acute   
   pain patients treated initially with an opioid will go on to have   
   prolonged opioid use.   
      
   The 100 words that triggered the opioid crisis   
   Why opioids are such an American problem   
   Watch on iPlayer: Addicted - America's Opioid Crisis   
      
   But Journavx works in a different way, by blocking pain signals before   
   they reach the brain.   
      
   Vertex says the drug is the first in a new class of pain medicine to be   
   approved in more than 20 years.   
      
   Its chief executive Reshma Kewalramani called the approval an "historic   
   milestone for the 80 million people in America who are prescribed a   
   medicine for moderate-to-severe acute pain each year".   
      
   Journavx will cost $15.50 (£12.50) per capsule, the company said, adding   
   it is not yet known whether the drug "is safe and effective in children".   
      
   https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3vp15wx6rlo   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)