FDA Warns of Deadly Risks From Mixing Opioids and Sedatives

FDA Warns of Deadly Risks From Mixing Opioids and Sedatives
This Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, file photo shows pills of the painkiller hydrocodone at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016 AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File
|Updated:

WASHINGTON—Health officials are strengthening warnings about the potentially fatal consequences of mixing prescription painkillers and sedatives like Xanax, saying the combination can lead to breathing problems, coma and death.

The Food and Drug Administration said it will add a boxed warning — the strongest type — to nearly 400 medications about the interaction, including opioid painkillers, opioid-containing cough medicines and benzodiazepines, which are used to treat anxiety, insomnia and seizure disorders.

Painkillers and sedatives are among the most commonly prescribed medications in the U.S., but both drug types slow users’ heart rate and breathing.