Cephalon expands When Good Medicines Become Bad Drugs program with new partnership

FRAZER, Pa. Drug maker Cephalon has started a partnership with the American Chronic Pain Association and the American Pharmacists Association to promote appropriate use of pain medications, Cephalon said Wednesday.

The partnership expands Cephalon’s When Good Medicines Become Bad Drugs program and is designed to spread awareness of the dangers of abusing prescription drugs by creating educational materials developed with the APhA and ACPA for use in a select group of pharmacies. The company did not specify which pharmacies would participate.

“Pharmacists play a key role in educating the public about prescription medicines, and the expansion of this program provides hands-on resources to support those conversations with the goal of reducing prescription pain medicine abuse,” Cephalon chief medical officer Lesley Russell said. “The When Good Medicines Become Bad Drugs program is part of our continued commitment to patient education to help ensure that prescription medications are used safely and by the appropriate patients.”

The expanded program will include a website, GoodMedicinesBadDrugs.com, which provides videos and other information about prescription drug abuse. According to Cephalon, abuse of prescription drugs now surpasses the use of most illegal drugs. A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that emergency room visits related to abuse of prescription drugs more than doubled between 2004 and 2008.