FDA Appoves Drug to Treat Heroin, Morphine Addiction

The Food and Drug Administration has approved an injectable drug designed to treat people addicted to opiates who have undergone detoxification treatment. Vivitrol, made by Massachusetts drug maker Alkermes, is a so-called extended-release formulation of the drug naltrexone that is injected once a month into the muscle, according to an FDA statement. The drug works to block opioid receptors in the brain.