Welcome Guest | | Register

| Contact Us

Place an Ad | Advertise With Us | Manage your subscription online

11 Connects | Bristol Herald Courier | Award-winning coverage | SwVaToday.com | Work It, TriCities

NewsNews

FDA Advisers Recommend Ban on Darvon

Government advisers are recommending a ban on Darvon, a painkiller that's been around for 50 years.

By: AP | 11 Connects - WJHL TV
Published: January 30, 2009

» Comments | Post a Comment

WASHINGTON (AP) - Government advisers are recommending a ban on
Darvon, a painkiller that's been around for 50 years.
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted 14-12 Friday
to recommend withdrawing Darvon after a hearing on its risks and
benefits. The drug was first approved in 1957, when there were few
alternatives for pain except aspirin and powerful narcotics.
Now mainly marketed as Darvocet, which includes a dose of
acetaminophen, the drug remains one of the top 25 most commonly
prescribed medications. More than 20 million prescriptions were
written in 2007.
The consumer group Public Citizen said the FDA should withdraw
Darvon because the drug offers weak pain relief and poses an
overdose risk, with the potential to be used in suicides.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)