Schumer: More Control on Hydrocodone

US Senator Chuck Schumer wants tighter federal controls on pain killers that have been linked to deaths when abused.

Schumer is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to put pain killers with hydrocodone in a category of drugs with a higher risk of abuse or addiction so they'll be more difficult to get.

Hydrocodone is among the most widely abused substances and can cause serious health problems and death. He says in Western New York and the Southern Tier alone in 2011 more than 3,700 cases of prescription drug abuse were reported.

Schumer says the FDA should accept last week's recommendations from an advisory committee of doctors and scientists to reclassify hydrocodone medications as Class II drugs.

You can read more at Schumer's website.

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