FDA requires 'black box' warning on opioids

CNN: In an attempt to help slow the prescription drug epidemic, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that immediate-release opioid painkillers such as oxycodone and fentanyl will now have to carry a "black box" warning about the risk of abuse, addiction, overdose and death.

Prescription opioid painkillers are divided into two main classes -- extended release, which have more pain-killing opioid per dosage, and immediate release, which have less opioids, but need to be taken more frequently. Ninety percent of opioid prescriptions are for immediate-release painkillers, the FDA said.

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