35 Years of Propoxyphene Recall Requests Finally Granted

A Darvocet recall was issued in November 2010, after the FDA determined that propoxyphene-based painkillers, which also include Darvon and generic equivalents, may increase the risk of heart problems and other potentially life-threatening injuries, such as suicide and overdose. Medical experts have been questioning the safety of Darvocet and Darvon for years, with the first petition for the FDA to issue a propoxyphene recall filed in 1978, after data suggested that the drug may cause potentially harmful toxins to build up in the heart. Although Darvon and Darvocet were recalled in the U.K. in 2005 due to an increased risk of potential Darvocet suicide and overdose, it remained available in the United States.


Although the medications were on the market for more than 50 years before they were recalled in 2010, the manufacturers failed to fully investigate the potential risk of problems with the heart from Darvocet and Darvon, ignoring mounting evidence that side effects were causing people to suffer heart arrythmias and sudden death. The consumer group Public Citizen filed a new petition in 2006, and filed a Darvocet lawsuit against the FDA in 2008 over their failure to act on their petition to ban the drug in the United States.

Last month, a Darvocet and Darvon recall was issued after the FDA determined that propoxyphene-based painkillers may increase the risk of potentially fatal heart rhythm abnormalities, including heart arrythmia. The medications were also previously linked to a risk of overdose and suicide. All generic Darvocet and generic Darvon versions of propoxyphene were also recalled. At a hearing held on March 30, 2011, Xanodyne and Eli Lilly opposed centralization of the Darvon and Darvocet cases as part of an MDL, arguing that much of the evidence and discovery in the cases will focus on the individual health of each patient. In addition, the drug makers indicated that many of the plaintiffs who filed the first lawsuits may have taken generic equivalents of the drugs that were made by other companies. Those suffering from the adverse side effects of Darvocet are advised to contact an experienced Darvocet lawyer as soon as possible to ensure proper representation in filing a lawsuit.