|
| Year | Event |
|
| 1804 | Morphine isolated from opium (Germany) |
| 1827 | Morphine commercially available (Merck) |
| 1832 | Codeine isolated (France) |
| 1857 | Hypodermic needle invented |
| 1890 | First USA law regulating narcotics, a tax on opium and morphine. Narcotics can be freely bought and sold |
| 1903 | Heroin addiction is recognized as a major public health crisis in USA |
| 1905 | USA bans opium |
| 1914 | Harrison Narcotics Act requires registration of physicians, pharmacists, and others associated with narcotics prescribing and distribution |
| 1914 | Oxymorphone synthesized (Germany) |
| 1916 | Oxycodone synthesized (Germany) |
| 1923 | First US federal drug agency (US Treasury Department’s Narcotics Division) bans sale of all narcotics in USA |
| 1930 | Federal Bureau of Narcotics established in the Treasury Department |
| 1939 | Oxycodone available in USA |
| 1959 | Oxymorphone available in USA |
| 1960 | Fentanyl synthesized |
| 1964 | World Health Organization introduces concept of opioid dependence |
| 1965 | USA estimates that 750,000 citizens are addicted to heroin |
| 1967 | Talwin (pentazocine) approved for pain relief and is described as having no known potential for abuse |
| 1968 | First reports of Talwin dependence |
| 1968 | Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs established in the Justice Department |
| 1970 | Congress passes Controlled Substances Act |
| 1973 | Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is set up under the Justice Department |
| 1979 | Schedule IV controlled substance act, labeling changes to include postmarketing events of addiction |
| 1982 | Talwin is reformulated to include naloxone and marketed commercially the following year |
| 1983 | The original formulation of Talwin (without naloxone) is withdrawn from market and reports of abuse decreased in next few years |
| 1999 | Veterans Health Administration launches the “Pain as the 5th Vital Sign” initiative. JCAHO and other regulatory bodies incorporate into their guidelines, which was initial start of increased opioid prescriptions |
| 2000 | Congress declares decade 2001–2010 “Decade of Pain Control and Research” |
| 2002 | Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone) approved |
| 2004 | Consumer lawsuit against Purdue Pharma regarding OxyContin |
| 2004 | First “around-the-clock” product approved for opioid-tolerant pain patients (Palladone, Purdue Pharma) |
| 2005 | Palladone pulled from the USA market (still available in UK) |
| 2005 | Majority of single-agent oxycodone sold in US is extended release (64%) |
| 2007 | Reports of Suboxone abuse nationally as abusers figured out how to extract buprenorphine |
| 2007 | USA consumes 82% of world’s supply of oxycodone annually |
| 2009 | Embeda (morphine with sequestered naltrexone) approved |
| 2009 | Majority of single-agent oxycodone sold in US is immediate release (54%) |
| 2010 | Safe use Initiative launched by FDA |
|
