Welcome to paging Dr. Gupta. This is the show where I get to hear directly from you,

and I love it. You get to send me your health questions, I get to answer them, and you've been sending

in a lot of questions. Kira, one of our producers, she's back with us today as well.

Kira, who's paging us first.

Hey, Sanjay.

So first of today, we've got a really interesting question coming from listener Stephanie,

who wants to know about this new FDA-approved pain killer.

What's the deal and how is it different from other prescription pain meds?

All right, Stephanie, a really important question, something that I think a lot about pain.

You know, as a neurosurgeon, I in many ways am taking care of a lot of patients who have pain and there's been a real need for new options to try and treat pain. This may shock you,

but in the United States, there's not been a new medication approved for pain in more than 25 years.

I think it was 1998. Celibrex was approved. Despite the fact that the FDA approves dozens of drugs

every year for all kinds

of different things, we haven't made any progress in pain until now. The new medication we're

talking about is called Suzetrogen. It's going to be sold under the brand name Jernivax.

Here's how you should think about it, Stephanie.

Opioid pain medications, which you're probably familiar with. The way that they work is really by

dulling the pain acting on the brain, essentially muting the sensation, if you will.

Pain does not exist until the brain decides that it exists. Okay? Brain processes pain.

And that's where opioids work by basically dulling that sensation. Pain signal goes to the brain,

the brain processes it, and the opioids sort of interfere with that process.

Jernivax, this new medication we're talking about, works in a completely different way.

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