Senator Marshall Applauds FDA Action to Expand Non-Opioid Pain Treatments Following Bipartisan Push
Washington, DC – On Friday, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS) applauded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for issuing long-awaited guidance to accelerate the development of non-opioid treatments for chronic pain, representing a pivotal shift in how the FDA supports pain medicine innovation. For years, Senators Marshall has made this issue a top priority, and worked along bipartisan lines to elevate it to the FDA Commissioner’s attention.
“For too long, innovation in pain medicine has stood still while Americans suffered,” Senator Marshall said. “After years of pushing the FDA to act, our bipartisan efforts are finally bearing fruit. I want to commend Commissioner Marty Makary for prioritizing this critical issue and for recognizing that physicians and patients desperately need better options. This new guidance will help unleash the next wave of innovation in non-addictive pain therapies and help prevent addiction that begins with prescription misuse. I’m proud of the steps we’re taking in the fight against addiction.”
Background:
- Chronic pain affects more than 60 million American adults, including 20 million with pain severe enough to limit daily activities, according to the CDC.
- Yet the pharmaceutical pipeline for both acute and chronic pain has seen little innovation for decades, with only about 0.7 percent of pain drug candidates ever reaching FDA approval, compared to roughly 6.5 percent across all therapeutic areas.
- This lack of progress has left clinicians and other prescribers with few options beyond opioids, fueling dependence and discouraging investment in safer treatments. Senator Marshall raised alarms about this trend and pressed the FDA to prioritize non-opioid therapies, helping prompt the agency to approve the first oral medicine for moderate-to-severe acute pain in decades and to now issue draft guidance to advance new options for chronic pain.
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Contact: Payton Fuller
