AG calls for anti-abuse features on generic pills

LAS VEGAS — Nevada’s top prosecutor is joining an effort to make prescription painkillers harder to abuse.

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto signed on to a letter this week urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to require tamper-resistant versions of generic pain pills.

Brand-name OxyContin already has abuse-deterrent properties. The tablet is difficult to crush and forms a gel that is tough to inject.

Those properties make it harder for users to inject or snort the drug and get the full narcotic effect at once, instead of over time as intended.

Masto says bringing tamper-resistant technology to generics will save lives. Government statistics show nearly 2,100 people died in Nevada of prescription drug overdoses from 2009 to 2013.

Masto signed the letter along with attorneys general in 41 other states and territories.