FDA Approves drug to treat pain without opioid effects | Hacker News Reader

FDA Approves drug to treat pain without opioid effects

nytimes.com

53 pointsremh32 comments

There's no reason for this to be a NYT link.

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-appr...

> "There's no reason for this to be a NYT link."

I respectfully disagree. The NYT paid the author, Gina Kolata, to research and write the story, which contains more details than just the press release alone, then used their platform to made the news widely available and thus helped people like me discover it.

As cynical as one may be about the state of contemporary journalism, I'd say that short articles like this are still something good that comes out of newspapers in 2025, and I hope it doesn't go away just yet.

For those without a NYT subscription, a link to the press release is handy.

Here is a free link for anyone:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/health/fda-journavx-suzet...

Journalism on science and medicine gets more things wrong than right.

Given how late in the article it is mentioned that the drug was indistinguishable from placebo, this NYT article may well have been commissioned by Vertex.

[1] https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/pain-comes-territo...

My impression is that the "indistinguishable from placebo" is only in reference to a study on people with Sciatica, but that a different study did show a statistically-significant effect on post-surgical pain.

$465 USD for a 15-day supply definitely pricey -- but options for people who weren't well-served by Purdue Pharma / OxyContin seem good, especially if the mechanism of action is different.

> Side effects of suzetrigine reported by patients were similar to the ones reported by those taking the placebo

If this is what you're referring to, note the article is talking about the side effects.

Not trying to say I'm for/against the drug, just wanted to point a possible incorrect conclusion.

Middlemen like town criers and nowadays "journalists" were useful when distributing information en masse quickly was a tremendous if not next to impossible logistical challenge.

Today when anyone can get information straight from the source instantly, we do not need these middlemen. There is no reason for this to be an NYT link, nor any other middleman link.

The less players there are in the game of telephone the more accurate the information will be.

Many news stories require domain expertise to understand.

If there's a news item involving Brazilian law, or a new Aluminum alloy, or a newly identified virus, then I likely wouldn't understand the raw data.

Middlemen are valuable to the extent either that they are knowledgeable about a topic, or have the resources to consult someone knowledgeable.

We can’t get the information from the source unless we know it’s there. That’s the service an algorithm will invisibly produce for us even after we murder the last logo between us and The News

There is a lot more information and background for the layperson in the NYT article. But free sources should also be included for those without a subscription.

(2024) "Pharmacology and Mechanism of Action of Suzetrigine, a Potent and Selective NaV1.8 Pain Signal Inhibitor for the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Pain" (pdf)

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s40122-024-006...

There is at least one: in its quest to promote the agency they forgot to list the most basic issue that makes this approval noteworthy - addiction. Also there is no price and a bunch of other relevant info

https://archive.is/SIV8R

>>suzetrigine helped those with diabetic neuropathy, but was no better than placebo in those with pinched spinal nerves. (…) While analysts and researchers deemed the results disappointing in patients with pinched nerves in their spines, the company decided to proceed because there are no approved drugs for the painful condition, and because the drug is safe and “the mechanism of action is so clearly validated.”

“No one has ever helped these four million people,” he said. <<

Aside from routinely burning the nerves, routine epidural injections, narcotics, or alcohol.

Extremely limited relief from expensive acupuncture, massage, TENS, stretching, etc.

How does one give someone a placebo after surgery for clinical trials ? Wouldn’t that cause a lot of pain ? I know science and research and trials and all etc etc, but pain post surgery is quite a lot that placebo alone would be really bad for the patient.

one would assume that it was tested on minor surgeries.

Note that there is a fairly long list of CYP3A4 inhibitors that this is contraindicated against. I know nothing is, but this won't be for everyone.

Super exciting development in the world of medicine, but the price tag is really steep. Starting at US$15.50 per pill, and you're supposed to take two pills at a time. Many will opt for cheaper options.

Disclaimer: I'm Canadian with extended insurance, so I have little perspective on drug prices.

If it means staying away from addiction, I'll pay it. Opiods would scare me if I ever needed that level of pain treatment.

They should, synthethic opioids are VERY enjoyable, VERY risky and SUPER addictive.

I was on Oxy 24/7 for a month following surgery, went through hell.

I count myself as very, very lucky that opioids don’t do that for me at all. I’ve had strong prescriptions for various short-term needs over the years and they just make me a little sleepy. They don’t feel pleasant in any way, in the same way that Motrin doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling either.

This is to treat acute pain, probably mostly post-op as alternative to opioids. At most you'll probably get a week's worth of pills from your doc post-op, and I would say the cost is worth it if it works better than NSAIDs and it's not addictive.

Can this be taken alongside NSAIDs? If so it might not even need to be that great to still be worthwhile for that first week after an operation.

"It's worth it" isn't an answer to "drug prices are systematically inflated so many cannot afford them regardless.

That’s expensive today, yes, but it’s so hella expensive to bring a drug to market at all. I don’t mind a brand new drug costing $30/dose for a short term. That’s way more understandable than insulin or asthma inhalers going up 400%.

In the context of post op painkillers, the cost of this pill is a drop in the bucket vs cost of hospitalization. The alternative to inflated drug prices is not having the drugs or, I guess, nationalizing the pharmaceutical companies? I don't think you'll get many takers for that plan tho.

My Armodafinil Rx cost $35/pill — not covered by insurance.

This sounds fantastic. It is also worth remembering they also told us oxycodone was non habit forming. But hey, let's be cautiously optimistic.

Hey originally they said cocaine was not addictive :)

>> drug to treat pain without opioid effects

From my brief experience with junkies, they will treat this as a challenge.

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