Darvocet is dangerous in the U.K., but not the U.S.?

[babylonsister]

Darvocet is dangerous in the U.K., but not the U.S.?

June 19, 2008 by Frank Rogers


If the British recognize that the drug propoxyphene is too dangerous to prescribe to patients, what’s keeping Americans from realizing the same thing?

The U.K. began a phased withdrawal of Darvocet, which contains propoxyphene, from the British market in 2005, after the U.K. Committee on Safety of Medicines recommended that they do so. In its report, the CSM stated that it could not “identify any patient group in whom the risk-benefit may be positive.” The withdrawal was completed at the end of 2007.

It’s not that Americans haven’t tried to tell the government to pull propoxyphene off drug store shelves. In 2006, Public Citizen petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to withdraw all drugs containing propoxyphene, including Darvon and Darvocet, from the market because of the drug’s hazardous side effects. However, the FDA still has not granted or denied the petition. So now Public Citizen is filing a complaint in the D.C. District Court in the District of Columbia asking it to compel the FDA to make a decision.

Propoxyphene is an extremely dangerous painkiller. It is physically and psychologically addictive, is no more effective than safer alternatives and has been associated with more than 2,000 accidental deaths in America since 1981. Despite these risks, however, the drug was one of the 25 most prescribed generic drugs last year, with 22 million prescriptions filled in pharmacies in 2007.

more...

http://citizenvox.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/propoxyphene-is-dangerous-in-the-uk-but-not-the-us/#more-286

[RoseMead]

1. Darvocet is "safe" but God forbid anyone should

smoke a joint.:eyes:

[Celebration]

2. well, I loved it after a C section

I felt fine when I took Darvocet. When my doctor tried to prescribe me codeine instead, I felt as if I was literally climbing the walls. I thought I was going insane. Please, please, give me my Darvocet, I said, and thankfully the doctor complied. The doctor thought the Darvocet were a tiny bit dangerous, I think. But I definitely didn't trust myself on the codeine.

I think it is a good thing for there to be a number of options available, because patients respond differently to different drugs. The really important thing is to make sure the doctors know ALL the possible side effects and communicate those to the patients.