FDA offers heroin addicts new pills to curb cravings

WASHINGTON (AP) — Heroin addicts who are going through withdrawal will be able to use new drugs to curb their cravings. And it's the first time such drugs can be prescribed at a doctor's office instead of at a treatment clinic.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the drugs, buprenorphine/naloxone and buprenorphine, on Tuesday. The synthetic drugs, which will be sold as Suboxone and Subutex, are manufactured by Reckitt Benckiser, a British company.

Heroin and other opiate addicts have had few treatment options and limited access to them. Methadone has been prescribed for more than 30 years to treat heroin addiction. It is tightly regulated, approved to be dispensed in only a few drug treatment clinics.