NEU 62: Drugs and the Brain Homework One:
Drugs in the news media
Hamza Rahman
SID #3041055826
GSI: Niyati Chaudhary
Wednesdays 10-11am
September 10, 2025
I chose this NPR article titled Why a new opioid alternative is out of reach for some pain
patients by Sydney Lupkin because firstly it discusses a potential alternative to opioids, the
highly addictive class of analgesics, and also because I have previous experience working with
various analgesic drugs, opioid or not, as a pharmacy technician at Walgreens. This new
medication, called Journavx, was approved by the FDA in January of this year and surprisingly
showed up on my pharmacy's shelf not too long after, just sitting there, unopened. This lack of
usage is what led me to dive deeper into this never seen before bottle. Lupkin explains
Journavx's novel, non-addictive nature that is proven as a secondary analgesic used to treat acute
pain but also its hefty vices of cost and patient access. This article answers the question of why it
just sat on the shelf, costing upwards of $600 just to keep on hand.
One thing that the article does particularly well is the inclusion of the patient, Jerry
Abrams, in a testimonial about his opinion of Journavx and comparing it with his past experience
with opioid pain medications. Abrams suffers from a debilitating spine disease and needed to be
put on prescription pain medications to ease the pain. He explains his growing apprehension of
opioids and doesn’t want to develop a tolerance for them. Abrams knows that opioids can
become easily addictive and by using a potential alternative he mitigates these effects. The
incorporation of the real life patient in the article humanizes the problem and aims to legitimize a
potential solution.
Finally a topic that was mentioned but not discussed further is the problem of insurance
coverage and specifically how the coverage process works and why Journavax is not covered
under most plans. The limited usage of the drug as explained in the article, is exacerbated by the
lack of insurance coverage because it is a new name brand drug that is significantly more
expensive than its addictive counterparts, which are covered under most insurance plans. A
potential solution that they do not entertain in the article is the process of getting Journavx
covered by insurance plans and why it wont happen. This process is something I do not
understand but I believe if insurance companies were to start covering Journavx, its use would
greatly increase as supported by the initial data and make it accessible to a wider range of
patients.
Citation:
Lupkin, S. (2025, July 10). Why a new opioid alternative is out of reach for some pain
patients. NPR.