Hundreds of protesters marched outside Washington on Sunday as they called for stricter regulations on prescription drugs and for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to step down, according to ABC News.

Anti-addiction advocates slammed the FDA for its approval of a new painkiller called Zohydro last October against the recommendation of the administration's medical advisers, the Associated Press reported.

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While the Office of National Drug Control Policy has acknowledged the abuse of prescription painkillers as a national epidemic, protesters demanded U.S. President Barack Obama for more countermeasures on painkiller and opiate abuse.

Protesters of "Fed Up!" chanted "Hey hey, ho ho, Peggy Hamburg's got to go!" outside the White House on Sunday. Placards and signs bearing the names of loved ones lost from drug addiction were also touted.

California protester Susan Klimusko said most of the protesters had lost family to heroin overdose but that it had started with prescription painkillers. She said that Oxycontin, a powerful addictive drug, has been widely available in the streets because of the administration's failure to implement stricter regulations.

On Wednesday, a letter addressed to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell formally called for new FDA leadership. The letter was signed by a number of groups including anti-opioid organization Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing.

Opioid abuse is a pressing matter, said HHS spokesperson Tait Sye, adding that Burwell has focused efforts on this issue and looks forward to addressing the letter's concerns.

Deaths associated with addictive drugs including Vicodin and Oxycontin, have drastically increased to 17,000 in the last 20 years, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report.

Likewise, the CDC has urged medical practitioners to restrict painkiller prescriptions only to those who experience severe pain such as cancer and other terminally-ill patients. But more often than not, majority of such prescriptions are given for common symptoms like back pain and arthritis.

TagsBarack Obama, Food and Drug Administration, FDA, Margaret Hamburg, Zohydro, National Drug Control Policy, Drug addiction, opioid abuse, oxycontin, vicodin, Sylvia Burwell, Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, HHS, drug abuse