Imodium: The New Hydrocodone?

Guest: Heather Miller, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Texas A&M There’s a drug—likely in your medicine cabinet—a potentially fatal opioid that some addicts are turning to. It’s not one of the usual suspects - oxycodone or hydrocodone. It’s actually the active ingredient in Imodium – you know the anti-diarrhea medication? Imodium and generic versions of it contain “loperamide” (low-PEAR-uh-mide). While the number of people overdosing on loperamide is still small, that figure is increasing according to new research published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.