Published on: December 31, 2019

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns of possible serious breathing difficulties in patients using gabapentin or pregabalin in the presence of respiratory risk factors. These include old age, concurrent use of opioid pain medicines, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Please read: FDA warns about serious breathing problems with seizure and nerve pain medicines gabapentin and pregabalin

It is important to note that the 2019 WHO guidelines for cancer pain do not recommend gabapentinoids, saying, “While gabapentin has been widely prescribed, in 2017 it was rejected for inclusion in the WHO Model list of essential medicines on account of fraudulent evidence.”