State issues restrictions for painkiller Zohydro

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BOSTON (AP) — After a federal judge struck down Massachusetts’ first-of-its-kind ban of the painkiller Zohydro, Gov. Deval Patrick is trying another approach: imposing more requirements on doctors who prescribe the powerful new drug.

The governor’s office announced late Tuesday that the state’s Board of Registration in Medicine has voted to require doctors to complete a risk assessment and “pain management treatment agreement” before prescribing drugs like Zohydro that are extended-release medications, contain only hydrocodone and are “not in abuse-deterrent form.”

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