The Food and Drug and Administration has banned painkillers Darvon and Darvocet from the market after a new study showed that propoxyphene, the drugs' core compound, is linked to potentially fatal heart rhythm abnormalities. Manufacturer Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals Inc. has agreed to the ban, and the FDA is asking the manufacturers of generic versions of the drugs to stop selling them.
The FDA's ban comes over a year after similar bans were issued in the European Union and Britain where the drug has been linked to accidental overdoses and suicide. In the US, safety concerns surrounding Darvon have existed for years--watchdog group Public Citizen blames the prescription drug for several hundred deaths annually--but until now the FDA had decided to keep the opioid narcotic in the market. According to the study of the drug's cardiac effects, the drug can increase the chances that a user will develop heart arrhythmias even if he/she is healthy.
Dangerous Drugs
Our Anaheim products liability lawyers represent clients who have been injured or died because of a defective or dangerous product. Drug manufacturers can be held liable if their medication proves dangerous for a user. Serious injuries can arise when taking a dangerous drug, such as a stroke, birth injury, organ damage, kidney injury, brain damage, and death. Also, just because a drug passes FDA approval doesn't mean it is safe for use.
Some drugs that have been known to adverse health side effects that may warrant an Orange County, California dangerous drug :
• Accutane
• Yaz
• Gardasil
• Paxil
• Cipro
• Avandia
• Levaquin
• Reglan
Darvon is used for treating mild to moderate pain. About 10 million patients were given propoxyphene last year.
Darvon, Darvocet painkillers pulled from the U.S. market, Los Angeles Times, November 19, 2010
Manufacturer Pulls Darvon, Darvocet; FDA Wants Generic Makers to Do the Same, ABCNews, November 19, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals Inc.
