Darvocet -- A Drug of Choice for Suicides

Studies have shown that there have been a disproportionate number of suicides and intentional overdoses linked to propoxyphene-based prescription medications Darvon and Darvocet. The risks for these cases go up in patients who have been taking sedatives or have a history of emotional disturbance.
The Food and Drug administration has recently requested the makers of Darvon and Darvocet to cease production of the drug, as well as requesting makers of generic propoxyphene products to pull their products off of the market, due to these risk factors as well as others including accidental Darvocet overdose, risk of drug dependency, heart problems, and convulsions.
At least twenty percent of all Darvon and Darvocet-related deaths in 2007 were reported by the Drug Abuse Warning Network to be suicides, although only about one-third of the population was taken into account for this report – the actual number of deaths may be much higher.
Although propoxyphene products have been banned for years in Europe and the United Kingdom, it is only recently that they have been taken off the US market, with the Food and Drug Administration citing patient suicides as one of the reasons for the ban.