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Gabapentin has soared in popularity as an alternative to opioids, but patients are finding it can cause harm.
Approved by the Food and Drug Administration decades ago for seizures and nerve pain from shingles, gabapentin is now the seventh-most widely prescribed drug in the U.S., according to the Iqvia Institute for Human Data Science.
Gabapentin helps many patients, and most tolerate it well, said Kirk Evoy, a clinical associate professor of pharmacotherapy and translational sciences at the University of Texas at Austin who studies gabapentin misuse. Still, he said, “we shouldn’t be thinking of gabapentin as this safe drug we can just try for anything and see if it helps.”
#Drugs #Healthcare #WSJ
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