Phenadoxone (trade names Heptalgin, Morphidone, and Heptazone) is an

opioid Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Other medical uses include suppression of diarrhea, replacement therapy for opioid use ...

analgesic An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It ...

of the open chain class (

methadone Methadone, sold under the brand names Dolophine and Methadose among others, is a synthetic opioid agonist used for chronic pain and also for opioid dependence. It is used to treat chronic pain, and it is also used to treat addiction to heroi ...

and relatives) invented in Germany by Hoechst in 1947. It is one of a handful of useful synthetic analgesics which were used in the United States for various lengths of time in the 20 or so years after the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

but which were withdrawn from the market for various or no known reason and which now are mostly in Schedule I of the United States' Controlled Substances Act of 1970, or (like phenazocine and bezitramide) in Schedule II but not produced or marketed in the US. Others on this list are ketobemidone (Ketogin),

dextromoramide Dextromoramide (Palfium, Palphium, Jetrium, Dimorlin) is a powerful opioid analgesic approximately three times more potent than morphine but shorter acting. It is subject to drug prohibition regimes, both internationally through UN treaties and b ...

(Dimorlin, Palfium and others), phenazocine (Narphen and Prinadol), dipipanone (Diconal, Pipadone and Wellconal),

piminodine Piminodine (Alvodine) is an opioid analgesic that is an analogue of pethidine (meperidine). It was used in medicine briefly during the 1960s and 70s, but has largely fallen out of clinical use. It was used particularly for obstetric analgesia a ...

(Alvodine),

propiram Propiram (Algeril, Dirame, Bay 4503) is a partial mu opioid receptor agonist and weak mu antagonist analgesic from the ampromide family of drugs related to other drugs such as phenampromide and diampromide. It was invented in 1963 in the United ...

(Algeril),

anileridine Anileridine (trade name: Leritine) is a synthetic analgesic drug and is a member of the piperidine class of analgesic agents developed by Merck & Co. in the 1950s. It differs from pethidine (meperidine) in that the ''N''-methyl group of meperidi ...

(Leritine) and

alphaprodine Prodine (trade names Prisilidine and Nisentil) is an opioid analgesic that is an analog of pethidine (meperidine). It was developed in Germany in the late 1940s. There are two isomers of the trans form of prodine, alphaprodine and betaprodine ...

(Nisentil). Phenadoxone has a US DEA ACSCN of 9637 and recently has had a zero annual manufacturing quota under the Controlled Substances Act 1970. Its withdrawal from US distribution prior to the promulgation of said act is a large part of its Schedule I designation; it is, however, used as a legitimate medication in other countries and consumption is increasing worldwide as indicated below. Phenadoxone is generally considered to be a strong opioid analgesic and is regulated in much the same way as

morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies ('' Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...

where it is used. The usual starting dose is 10–20 mg and it has a duration of analgesic effect of 1 to 4 hours. Phenadoxone is not used at this time for purposes other than pain relief. Worldwide consumption of phenadoxone has actually increased slightly in recent years according to a recent report from the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

. Like its drug subcategory prototype methadone, phenadoxone can be used as the opioid analgesic in Brompton cocktail. Phenadoxone is most used at the current time in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

and various countries in eastern Europe.

References

{{Opioidergics Morpholines Ketones Mu-opioid receptor agonists Synthetic opioids Benzhydryl compounds