Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed the pain medication Darvocet from the market. Darvocet is a combination oral pain pill that consists of propoxyphene and acetaminophen (Tylenol). The FDA is concerned about propxyphene’s unintentional ability to cause serious heart rhythm problems.   This medication was banned in Britain approximately 5 years ago, because of concerns of abuse and suicides. The remainder of Europe banned the drug in 2009 because of abuse and addiction concerns.
Propxyphene is sold under the brand names of Darvon, Darvocet, and Darvocet-N 100. If you are taking any of these medications, you should stop. If you need to replace this medication, please see your primary care doctor for an alternative.
In most well done studies about the pain controlling effects of Darvocet, this medication did not control pain any better then Tylenol alone.
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I took Darvocet for 14 years to help with the pain of rheumatoid arthritis. Unlike EVERY OTHER prescription I have taken for my arthritis, I never had one side effect from Darvocet and never had to increase my dose. I had no problems with any kind of withdrawal when I had to stop taking it so I obviously had no addiction to it. I am allergic to codeine so my choices for pain relief are minimal, at best. As far as I am concerned, this is a crime.
There are many other medications out there that can help with the pain of arthritis. As the article states, the efficacy of propxyphene is questionable at best. Being a pharmacist, I am well know that the side effects of this medication in many cases far out weight the benefits. The market is a safer place because this is now banned.
I had no idea of the side effects of Darvocet until a couple of months ago. Over the past 10 years I have had rhythm problems with my heart. In Sept. of 2010 I had a heart attack.
I have had to be on basically every type of pain medication there is due to numerous surgery’s. I’ve never had any type of reaction to any of them but was put on darvocet after a dental procedure. Not even a day later I was put in the hospital for an unusall rapid heart beat and severe anxiety. Thats not a crime?
Patients and physicians often don’t see the danger of a drug because they see limited information. The FDA sees most everything and can weigh benefit to risk. Even if a drug had no side effects in half the population and killed the other half, 50% of people would think the drug is fine. The old colchicine, pulled off the market last year is a great example. It killed hundreds of people because it was not regulated. The new colchicine formulation, FDA approved, actually removed toxic compounds found in the old versions. People complain about the efforts to make drugs safe, but if a drug is not safe, it should not be on the market.
All the money is going to the Corporations and Top 1%, That’s the REAL problem with this country.