Group Seeks Federal Ban on Darvocet
http://www.localnewsleader.com/brocktown/stories/index.php?action=fullnews&id=150660
Group Seeks Federal Ban on Darvocet Staff and agencies28 February, 2006
By ANDREW BRIDGES, 53 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Darvon, Darvocet and related painkillers should be phased out and eventually banned, a watchdog group said Tuesday in a government petition that cited the accidental deaths of at least 2,110 people between 1981 and 1999.
Several hundred more people have died accidentally after taking the prescription narcotics each year since, Public Citizen‘s Health Research Group said in the petition faxed to the Food and Drug Administration . A roughly equal number of people used the drug to commit suicide.
"This a black-and-white example of a drug where its risks far outweigh its benefits," Wolfe said. "There‘s no excuse for this drug to be around."
A phase-out, meant to wean users from the addictive drug, and eventual ban if approved, would follow a similar decision made in January 2005 by the United Kingdom. Health officials there said at the time that the drug was associated with 300 to 400 accidental deaths and suicides each year.
A recent analysis of 26 studies that compared propoxyphene and acetaminophen with just acetaminophen or a dummy pill found the "narcotic combination offered little benefit over acetaminophen alone" in treating pain.
The body transforms propoxyphene into norpropoxyphene, which can build up in the body and is associated with a variety of heart problems, including arrhythmia.
Group Seeks Federal Ban on Darvocet Staff and agencies28 February, 2006
By ANDREW BRIDGES, 53 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Darvon, Darvocet and related painkillers should be phased out and eventually banned, a watchdog group said Tuesday in a government petition that cited the accidental deaths of at least 2,110 people between 1981 and 1999.
Several hundred more people have died accidentally after taking the prescription narcotics each year since, Public Citizen‘s Health Research Group said in the petition faxed to the Food and Drug Administration . A roughly equal number of people used the drug to commit suicide.
"This a black-and-white example of a drug where its risks far outweigh its benefits," Wolfe said. "There‘s no excuse for this drug to be around."
A phase-out, meant to wean users from the addictive drug, and eventual ban if approved, would follow a similar decision made in January 2005 by the United Kingdom. Health officials there said at the time that the drug was associated with 300 to 400 accidental deaths and suicides each year.
A recent analysis of 26 studies that compared propoxyphene and acetaminophen with just acetaminophen or a dummy pill found the "narcotic combination offered little benefit over acetaminophen alone" in treating pain.
The body transforms propoxyphene into norpropoxyphene, which can build up in the body and is associated with a variety of heart problems, including arrhythmia.
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