Scorpion Venom for Chronic Pain?

This almost seems like it is straight out of the nineteenth century, but it's true: scorpion venom may be a viable alternative to morphine.

According to researchers in Tel Aviv, the venom can be used to create a non-addictive painkiller that rivals morphine in its effectiveness. While they are not proposing that anyone with pain go out and taunt a scorpion instead of taking their prescribed painkillers, they do believe they can mimic some of the venom's properties into a marketable pain relief product.

This has the potential to relieve many of the common concerns about strong painkillers. I've certainly never heard of anyone overdosing on scorpion venom! This will be an interesting study to follow.