Plans afoot to curb misuse of Tapentadol, Pregabalin drugs

Both these are prescription drugs but government plans to curb their use as narcotics

- Priyanka Sharma

The government is planning to bring painkiller Tapentadol and epilepsy drug Pregabalin under strict control and monitoring to curb their misuse for substance abuse.

Proposal for listing Tapentadol under Schedule X of the Drugs Rules 1945 and inclusion of Pregabalin and its drug formulations in Schedule H1 of the same law were discussed in Drugs Consultative Committee meeting chaired by Drugs Controller General of India Rajeev Raghuvanshi.

"Tapentadol is being misused, just like Tramadol used to get misused in the past. Tapentadol is an advanced level of painkiller and one of its side-effects is sedation," said an official aware of the matter. Similarly, Pregabalin is being planned to be added in schedule H1, the official said.