Opioids demand rises in Japan as seniors use drugs to ease pain and improve quality of life

Sep 29, 2017 | News On Japan

Sep 29, 2017 (Japan Times) - Selling painkillers in Japan used to be like pulling teeth. That was until baby boomers discovered how analgesics could take the sting from arthritis, diabetic nerve damage and the ravages of cancer.

Now demand is taking off and drugmakers are introducing new products to a market where per-capita opioid consumption is the fourth-lowest in the developed world. Sales of drugs prescribed for chronic pain in Japan will jump 62 percent to Â¥188 billion ($1.7 billion) in the seven years through 2024, Fuji Keizai Co., a Tokyo-based market research firm, said in a report in November.

Unlike the U.S., where President Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency, Japan has had an aversion to narcotics because of restrictive laws and the stigma of addiction. But chronic-pain sufferers are demanding relief, and authorities are doing more to help them, especially since workers aren't economically productive when they are agonized by aches. A 2015 study estimated chronic pain costs Japan about Â¥1.95 trillion annually.

"People suffering from pain these days are less tolerant of it compared with the older generation," said Tsutomu Suzuki, emeritus professor of addiction research at Hoshi University in Tokyo. "Some of the newer products are opioids, but they aren't categorized as narcotics, which makes people feel more relaxed about using them."

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe committed to improving chronic-pain treatment as part of his economic growth plan announced in June last year. That led the health ministry this year to fund specially designated clinics and hospitals focused on managing patients in chronic pain.

Shionogi & Co., which sells OxyContin in Japan, filed an application for the drug to be used for chronic pain in November following a request from a health ministry panel, and antidepressant Cymbalta was approved as a treatment for chronic back pain in March last year. The Osaka-based company bought rights to sell Methapain, or methadone, from Teikoku Seiyaku Co. in February and won approval for Symproic to treat opioid-induced constipation in March.

"Most doctors in Japan feel strongly about keeping opioid usage to a minimum because they believe patients may not be able to quit taking them once they have been on them long-term," said Masashi Katsumata, senior director of Shionogi's pain management business. "That's why the risk of abuse and addiction is much lower than in the U.S., and that's an ideal situation."

Daiichi Sankyo Co. began selling a generic version of OxyContin in March and won approval to sell the cancer painkillers Narurapid and Narusus in Japan in June following a government-funded program to support patients. Daiichi Sankyo, which also sells fentanyl, has a potential treatment for diabetic nerve damage, with its drug mirogabalin in late-stage patient studies, the Tokyo-based company said in July.

Pfizer Inc.'s Lyrica won approval as a treatment for pain after shingles and peripheral neuropathic, or nerve damage, pain in 2010. In 2012, regulators allowed it to be sold as a treatment for pain associated with a disorder called fibromyalgia, and as a treatment for neuropathic pain the following year. That helped it become the fifth-bestselling medicine in Japan in the year that ended in March, according to QuintilesIMS, a marketing research firm.

Toyota to Launch Self-Driving Taxis in 2027

Toyota Motor will begin operating fully autonomous taxis in 2027 through a partnership with U.S. self-driving technology company Waymo, marking a major step in the Japanese automaker's efforts to expand driverless transportation services.

Mount Fuji Puts on First Snowcap

Mount Fuji has received its first snowcap of the season, the Japan Meteorological Agency announced on October 30, after temperatures at the summit plunged to minus 9.4 degrees Celsius, marking the arrival of winter conditions on Japan's highest mountain.

Chinese Female Spy Suspected of Targeting Nvidia Chief

U.S. intelligence agencies suspect that a Chinese female intelligence operative developed a close relationship with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in an attempt to obtain confidential corporate and U.S. government information, according to a report published by The New York Times on October 29th.

Japan Blocks Websites Leaking GMO Personal Data

The Japanese government has asked major telecommunications operators to forcibly block access to websites believed to contain personal information stolen in a cyberattack on GMO, it emerged on October 29th, as authorities moved to prevent further exposure of sensitive data online.

Typhoon No. 31 Heads Toward Japan's Remote Islands

Typhoon No. 31 was located near Minamitorishima Island in the Pacific Ocean, as of 3 a.m. on October 30, and was expected to approach the Ogasawara Islands south of Tokyo over the October 31-November 1 weekend while maintaining very strong intensity, bringing a growing risk of dangerously high waves, powerful swells and extremely rough seas.

MEDIA CHANNELS

MORE Society NEWS

Landlords Bear Financial Burden of Lonely Deaths

Japan's rapidly aging population is facing a growing crisis of elderly people dying alone at home, with grieving families sometimes unable to see their loved ones before burial and landlords increasingly forced to shoulder substantial cleanup and estate clearance costs when relatives abandon their inheritance.

Prison Inmates Help Preserve Japan's Traditional Crafts

Traditional Japanese crafts are finding an unexpected source of skilled workers in prisons across the country, where inmates are learning painstaking production techniques that build patience and concentration while helping preserve industries struggling with a shortage of craftspeople.

South Korean Man Arrested Over Killing of Japanese Woman Following Stock Crash

A Japanese woman in her 20s was found dead at an apartment complex in Cheonan, central South Korea, on October 29th, prompting police to detain a South Korean man in his 30s on suspicion of murder after he allegedly confessed to killing her because he had decided to commit suicide following stock market losses but could not bring himself to die alone.

Japan's Imperial Family Hosts Autumn Garden Party

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako hosted the annual autumn garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo on October 29, welcoming approximately 1,400 guests, including actor Kotaro Yoshida and novelist Miyuki Miyabe, while female members of the Imperial Family attended in traditional Japanese attire.

Rescuers Save Paraglider Who Stopped Breathing

A 59-year-old water sports rental shop owner in Omachi, Nagano Prefecture, has received a letter of appreciation from police after rescuing a paraglider who plunged into a lake on September 21, pulling the unconscious man from the water and performing CPR after discovering he was no longer breathing.

Couple's Gardening Hobby Turns Out to Be Cannabis Cultivation

A married couple in Aira, Kagoshima Prefecture, have been arrested after police discovered cannabis plants growing in pots on the terrace of their home during a search connected to a separate investigation, authorities said on October 28th.

Elderly Woman Drives Along Railway Tracks, Ends in Tragedy

A woman in her 80s was killed after her car entered railway tracks on the Odakyu Enoshima Line in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, shortly before 10:30 p.m. on October 27, with security camera footage showing the vehicle traveling along the tracks, passing an oncoming train and stopping with its hazard lights flashing before being struck from behind by another train.

Teen Hospitalized After Electric Shock From Basketball Hoop

A teenage male was rushed to a hospital after suffering an electric shock while putting away a motorized basketball hoop at a gymnasium in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, in an accident believed to have been caused by an incompatible extension cord, according to a report on October 27th.

< 2 3 4 5 >