Scientists discover an alternative to addictive painkillers

Addiction to opioid painkillers is a major public health issue, killing—for example—close to 19,000 people in the U.S. in 2014. Now scientists report an alternative to help those patients that suffer from severe pain. The team has identified a compound that appears to works as a painkiller similar to morphine, without the same affinity for addiction. The drug still faces many tests before it can become a new alternative to conventional painkillers. Nevertheless, the medical world is one step closer to stopping painkiller addiction.    READ MORE