UPDATE: FDA pulls painkiller drugs Darvon and Darvocet from US market
After 53 years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stated that drugs containing propoxyphene, sold under the names Darvon and Darvocet be pulled from the U.S. market.
Propoxyphene was first approved by the FDA in 1957 to treat mild to moderate pain. The drug is sold under a assortment o generic names. The drug is known as Darvocet when combined with acetaminophen.
The FDA has determined that recent clinical research shows that using propoxyphene in Darvon and Darvocet increases the chances of developing heart rhythm problems which can be possibly deadly.
The FDA is requesting the withdrawal and is strongly urging doctors to stop prescribing the drugs immediately. However it advised patients to continue taking propoxyphene while consulting with physicians to arrange for alternatives.
In 2009, an FDA advisory committee voted 14-12 to recall the drug, however the FDA declined the recommendation, instead calling for a study of the drug’s potential heart-related side effects.
The FDA wanted the withdrawal after receiving new data showing that the drug put patients at risk for potentially fatal heart rhythm abnormalities. That study showed that, even in healthy patients, the drug increased the risk for potentially fatal heart arrhythmias.
Public safety advocates said the FDA should have acted much sooner to pull a drug with limited benefits and a long history of safety issues.
Approximately 10 million people in the U.S. received prescriptions for Darvon and related drugs last year for mild to moderate pain.
Oh..only after 50 years do they remove it. The drug has profitted $100 billion dollars and the drug company deceided that was enough profit.They actual withdrew the drug NOT the FDA
The FDA is a joke agency that is run by the drug makers
The same scam is happening with the Diabetes and Obesity drugs just google SPIRIT HAPPY DIET