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An advisory panel of experts to the Food and Drug Administration voted on Friday to tighten restrictions on painkillers like Vicodin as its closely related to the high rate of pain killer abuse, according to reports.

The advisory panel voted 19 to 10 to recommend to the FDA to reclassify the drug. The reclassification would put the drug in the same category as medications that have been widely abused such as fentanyl and OxyContin.

If the change is approved by the FDA, patients would receive fewer pills of hydrocodone in each prescription and refills would have tougher restrictions. In addition, those pharmacies handling prescriptions would have stricter guidelines for storing and handling the drug.

"This drug has got a hold of this society and it's killing us," Joseph Rannazzisi, deputy assistant administrator in the DEA's office of diversion control, said at a FDA advisory meeting in Silver Springs, Md. "There's so many prescriptions out there and I'll tell you why. The medical community, in my humble opinion, is not taking this drug seriously."

The FDA is debating the DEA's request to reduce how long doctors can prescribe hydrocodone pills.

The request also would bar physician's assistants and nurse practitioners from prescribing pain killers, Bloomberg reported.

The drug has been prescribed for four decades and with very few restrictions. Because it is perceived to be less risky than some of the other painkillers that are narcotics, hydrocodone is widely prescribed by dentists as well as general practitioners.

However, officials in drug enforcement had complained for many years that hydrocondone is highly addictive causing it to be widely abused.