Indications for Strong Pain Medications, Fentanyl

[Guest guest]

Jerry,

I was surprised to see that Janseen, makers of the Duragesic patch have

published new indications for the use of the patch. Where Janseen used to state

that the patch was for cancer pain, it now states,

DURAGESIC® is indicated for management of persistent, moderate to severe

chronic pain that:

* requires continuous, around-the-clock opioid administration for an

extended period of time, and

* cannot be managed by other means such as non-steroidal analgesics,

opioid combination products, or immediate-release opioids

That change came into affect July 2005.

Zofran, on the other hand continues to state it is indicated for nausea and

vomiting in response to chemotherapy or surgery. And, that is all.

Fortunately, my insurance company doesn't pay attention to this. I have known

some

persons who had the coverage denied, since they had pancreatitis, and did not

recently have surgery or was not undergoing chemotherapy. This may be a good

plight for the PAI to request GlaxoKline, the manufacturer of Zofran to

add

an updated indication (i.e., pancreatitis) to their package insert.

Karyn E. , RN

Executive Director, PAI

Indianapolis, Indiana