Zomepirac sodium -- a new oral analgesic.

Zomepirac sodium is a new oral analgesic that is more effective than aspirin, with no apparent tolerance or potential for addiction. It causes gastrointestinal bleeding similar to that caused by large doses of aspirin. For occasional moderate pain not responsive to aspirin, zomepirac may prove to be preferable to oral narcotics such as codeine, oxycodone, propoxyphene, pentazocine and meperidine. For chronic use, the safety and continued effectiveness of the new drug remain to be determined; it probably cannot replace oral narcotics in narcotic-dependent patients. For severe pain, as in myocardial infarction, renal colic and after some operations, zomepirac is no substitute for parenteral morphine.