Restricting Access To Vicodin: The Right Approach to the Painkiller Epidemic?

FDA Might Tighten Reins On Vicodin by Donna Leinwand Leger.  USA Today.  January 10, 2013.

In light of the burgeoning painkiller epidemic government agencies are weighing steps to restrict access to one of the most popular these drugs, vicodin, a combination of hydrocodone and acetaminophen.  The Drug Enforcement Administration wants the Food and Drug Administration to classify vicodin as a Schedule II drug.  This means that the rules governing doctors writing prescriptions for vicodin would be tightened.  In evaluating this potential schedule change regulators are considering whether this action would in fact restrict access and hence abuse or would merely inconvenience patients.