FDA says it requires boxed warning on some opioid-based painkillers

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday it required short-acting opioid pain medications to carry a boxed warning about the serious risks of misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose and death.

The action is part of the agency's plan to reassess its approach to opioid medications, the FDA said.(http://1.usa.gov/1MzXIhg)

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week released voluntary guidelines that instruct primary care doctors to sharply deter the use of opioids for chronic pain.

Overprescribing opioids, largely for chronic pain, is a key driver of America's drug-overdose epidemic, the CDC estimates.

(Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)