Life Without Vicodin Will Be OK, Doctors Say

July 2, 2009 — -- For 22-year-old Jacob Rosenberg, life without his daily dose of Vicodin wouldn't be much of a life at all.

"Before I began taking narcotics two years ago, I would spend my days in bed," said Rosenberg, who has suffered from fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis for five years, and chronic pain for 10. "I was in college and I wasn't capable of doing anything – go to classes or go out."

"But since I've been on Vicodin my pain is 80 percent diminished," said Rosenberg. "It gives me the ability to be a normal person."

Rosenberg is one of millions of Americans who fill prescriptions each year for an acetaminophen-based narcotic – or combination drugs – such as Vicodin or Percocet, the two most popularly prescribed drugs in the country.

But patients like Rosenberg are worried that the solution to their pain may soon be unavailable to them after an expert advisory panel for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted earlier this week to ban combination drugs.

The panel's vote came after days of deliberation over ways to reduce the liver damage risk associated with acetaminophens. The panel also voted to keep over-the-counter combination pills containing acetaminophen on the shelves and lower the maximum dosage of these pills.

The panel voted 36 to 1 to recommend a "black box" warning for prescription medications that combine acetaminophen with another drug.

"It's completely unfair to take these drugs away from us," said Rosenberg. "Without them you can't act like a normal person."