Gizmodo: Why Did the Pentagon Push the FDA to Approve a Powerful New Opioid?

In November 2018, the FDA approved a new formulation of the drug sufentanil called Dsuvia. Sufentanil is the strongest opioid prescription painkiller available and is five to ten times more potent than fentanyl. The approval of the drug was met with public outcry in the midst of the opioid crisis. Less known is that the Department of Defense funded more than $22 million to the drug’s development for treating soldiers for acute pain. However, the drug is controversially marketed as a life-saving medical product even though acute pain is not considered life-threatening, bringing forth concerns about the “lack of unique benefits and limited efficacy” of the extremely potent drug.

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