A primer of FDA "scheduled" drugs

“Scheduled” prescription drugs are those that have the potential for addiction and/or physiological dependence, which means that your body relies on the drug to maintain biochemical equilibrium—that is, to feel “normal.” The FDA has classified such drugs ("controlled substances") as follows:

• Schedule I: Deemed to have no medical benefit and cannot be prescribed by a doctor under any circumstances. Examples: heroin, LSD, “ecstasy,” and marijuana [!].
• Schedule II: Most opioid painkillers, including morphine, opium, codeine, Vicodin, Demerol, OxyContin, Percocet. Doctors are not supposed to provide more than a month’s worth of these, with no refills allowed with a single prescription. Stimulants, such as Adderall, Dexedrine, and Ritalin are also in this group.
• Schedule III: This seems to be a mixed bag of drugs deemed to be less addictive than Schedule II drugs, but more addictive than Schedule IV drugs. Examples include Suboxone, ketamine (an anti-depressant), and anabolic steroids. Doctors can provide limited refills with one prescription.
• Schedule IV: These include the benzodiazepine sedative-narcotics, such as Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, Ativan, Versid, Halcion, and Restoril. The muscle relaxant, Soma, and sleeping pill, Ambien, are also Schedule IV drugs. As with Schedule III, drugs, a prescription cannot be refilled more than five times.
• Schedule V: These are drugs that contain limited amounts of opioids, such as cough preparations with codeine.

Alert to you elderly readers: the Expert Panel of the American Geriatrics Society warns older adults to avoid the benzodiazepine drugs listed under Schedule IV drugs. Such drugs “have been found to be associated with poor health outcomes, including confusion, falls, and mortality.”

For an introduction to this blog, see I Just Say No; for a list of blog topics, click the Topics tab.