06/13/2025    

PODIATRIST IN THE NEWS

TX Podiatrist Pioneers Use of New Non-Opioid Post-Op Painkiller 

 

Showing its leadership in addressing the opioid crisis, the UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty and Research Hospital is the state’s first to approve use of a new non-opioid medication for pain following orthopaedic and podiatric surgeries. The new drug suzetrigine, brand name Journavx, is not a controlled substance and avoids opioid-related side-effects. It was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January and first became available in April.

 

 

Dr. Lee Rogers

 

The type of post-surgical pain associated with orthopaedics is the target indication for the newly approved medication, said Lee C. Rogers, DPM, clinical associate professor of orthopaedics and chief of podiatry at UT Health San Antonio. “It could be spine, or a total joint, or a bunion,” Rogers said. “This is a way to use innovative and effective pain management approaches that avoid opioids and their side-effects.”

 

Source: Steven Lee, uthscsa.edu [6/11/25]