What is Propoxyphene Side Effects
Darvon and Darvocet were the only pain meds that the PA could prescribe. There’s no single answer to that question, says Edward Michna, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School who practices anesthesiology and pain management at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. (Michna is also chair of the American Pain Society’s public policy committee.)
The drugs were indicated for mild to moderate pain, such as that from osteoarthritis, Michna tells the Health Blog. Other drugs indicated for moderate to moderately severe pain, such as tramadol, and tapentadol (sold under the brand name Nucynta), for moderate to severe acute pain, may also be possibilities, says Michna. (In some cases, that may mean your doctor will recommend trying more powerful painkillers such as oxycodone or hydrocodone-containing drugs, which are intended for serious pain.)
So risky and dangerous is propoxyphene that the United Kingdom banned the drug in 2005 and the entire European Union followed suit in January of 2009.
But in this country, it was not until last week that the FDA finally pulled the plug on the brand-name propoxyphene drugs, Darvon and Darvocet, as well as their generic surrogates.
For thousands of Americans, the FDA’s action comes decades too late. Public Citizen recognized that propoxyphene can cause a toxic metabolite to accumulate in the body. Officially, the FDA said it needed more time to conduct a study about the drug’s efficacy and safety. While there are many differences between the two drugs, there are striking similarities between propoxyphene and Vioxx. The FDA eventually estimated that Vioxx caused as many as 139,000 heart attacks during the five years the drug was on the market.
Darvocet contains propoxyphene and acetaminophen. Currently, generic drugs companies, such as Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals and Qualitest/Vintage Pharmaceuticals, produce them instead.
The drugs are popular: in 2009, doctors prescribed Darvon and Darvocet over 10 million times. The agency also insisted that Xanodyne study the effects of the drug on the electrical system of the heart in healthy patients who took only the prescribed doses. Those changes are linked to potentially deadly abnormal heart rhythms.
In response, Xanodyne agreed to remove Darvon and Darvocet from the market, and the FDA will ask other drug-makers to follow suit.
