What is Darvocet®?

Darvocet® contains a combination of propoxyphene and acetaminophen. Propoxyphene is in a group of drugs called narcotic pain relievers. Acetaminophen is a less potent pain reliever and a fever reducer that increases the effects of propoxyphene.

Darvocet® is used to relieve mild to moderate pain with or without fever.

Darvon® and Darvocet®, the brand names of the painkiller propoxyphene, have finally been removed from the US market by manufacturer Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals. The removal of these drugs was requested by the FDA after years of petitioning from consumer advocacy groups for the banning of these drugs. The dangers of Darvon® and Darvocet® have been known for decades, but manufacturers continued to sell them years after their potentially lethal side effects were known.

FDA & Side Effects

It has been announced by FDA that Darvon® and Darvocet® recall has been issued after the new clinical research indicates that the painkiller drugs can cause heart-related side effects. Along with Darvocet® recall, FDA has also ordered generic drug makers to drop marketing of low-cost drugs that contain the active ingredient in Darvon called propoxyphene.

In 1957, FDA approved Propoxyphene, an opioid used to treat mild to moderate pain, but later the drug was questioned over safety concerns. Since 1978, two Darvocet® recalls have been requested by the FDA, but they concluded that the benefits overweigh the health risks.

It has been discovered through electrocardiography that abnormalities occurred in healthy people who take normal doses of Darvon® and Darvocet®. Since 2005, almost 120 million patients in the U.S. have been prescribed with Darvocet®, which combines propoxyphene with common painkiller acetaminophen.

After the official Darvon® and Darvocet® recall, doctors are being asked to stop prescribing propoxyphene to their patients.

Side Effects include:
• Sudden cardiac death, Heart attack
• Heart failure, Heart rhythm abnormalities
• Arrhythmia, Irregular heartbeat
• Atrial fibrillation (A fib), Ventricular fibrillation (V fib)
• Long QT syndrome, Tachycardia
• Heart block, Bradycardia (slow heart rate)