3 ms·

While you're spot on with "they're all just opiates" in nature, can you explain to me why Oxycodone isn't simply called Morphine?

• S_A_P 11y ago
  Because it's not morphine. Where hydrocodone is a synthetic equivalent to the natural opiate codeine, oxycodone is a synthetic opiate roughly as strong as the natural opiate morphine. There are many different synthetic opiates of various strengths but oxycodone is not "heroin" or "morphine." edit: remove spurious iPhone capitalizations..
  • 6stringmerc 11y ago
    I follow you. The formulations are indeed areas of distinction. As I'm not educated beyond layman's terms, do they work on different receptors?
    • pygy_ 11y ago
      No, they all target the mu opioid receptor. I don't know if they all bind the same site of said receptors, though.