Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- The maker of the painkiller Darvon is pulling the drug off the market at the request of public health officials who say the more than 50-year-old pill causes potentially deadly heart rhythms. The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals had agreed to halt all U.S. marketing of Darvon and the related brand Darvocet, which have been subject to safety concerns for decades. The Kentucky company confirmed the move in its own statement. The FDA also called on generic drugmakers to stop marketing low-cost drugs containing the active ingredient in Darvon, called propoxyphene. Britain and the...

WASHINGTON — Government medical advisers recommended a ban Friday on Darvon, a prescription medicine that’s been used to treat pain for more than 50 years but left a trail of problems such as addiction and suicide. A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted 14-12 to recommend withdrawing Darvon after a daylong hearing examining its risks and benefits. The FDA is not required to follow the recommendations of its advisers, but it often does so...

Vital Signs People who take Tylenol and other medicines that contain acetaminophen are largely ignorant of the safe dosages, a new study has found, and unaware that an overdose can cause severe liver damage. Of 104 consecutive patients at a Michigan clinic, almost 80 percent reported using acetaminophen in the previous six months, but about 63 percent were unsure whether they had been told about the dangers of high doses, and only 43 percent knew that the medicine could affect liver function. The survey results appear in the January/February issue of The Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. The maximum...