Darvocet Pulled From Market
Darvocet and Darvon have been pulled from the market at the request of the Food and Drug Administration, which claims the drugs can cause deadly abnormal heart rhythms.
The FDA ordered manufacturer Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals to end sales on both the popular painkillers, which contain the drug propoxyphene.
The health agency said it arrived at the decision after the release of a study that suggested that the prescription drugs can cause changes to the electrical activity of the heart.
“This last study, the cardiac study, was sort of the final piece of the puzzle that told us what the complete picture was,” Dr. Gerald Dal Pan, director of FDA’s office of surveillance and epidemiology, told CBS News.
The 50-year-old Darvon has aroused safety concerns for decades.
The FDA also halted marketing for low-cost drugs containing propoxyphene from generic manufacturers.
The popular opioid narcotic propoxyphene is administered to treat mild to moderate pain. According to CBS News, 10 million people in the U.S. were prescribed Darvon in 2009.
From: http://www.thirdage.com/
