14 DAY TRIAL // Considering the tragic number of 2,000 deaths in the last two decades, consumers asked American officials to ban the drug called Darvon or Darvocet.
In their petition, consumers say that propoxyphene sold as Darvon by Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals has been linked to 2,110 deaths from 1981 to 1999 and is physically addictive. In 2004, 23 million prescriptions were issued, making it the 12th most popular drug in America.
The substance is mostly inappropriate for older people, because it has negative effects as sedation and confusion on the central nervous system, increasing the number of falls and, thus, fractures. The deaths occur because a big part of the drug is transformed into a metabolite, very toxic for the heart, which stays in the body longer then the original compound, causing cardiac depression.
Public Citizen, the group which filled the petition, follows British officials' actions, which decided last year a phased withdrawal from the marked because of poor effectiveness and risks of overdose and death.
Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, stated: "Millions of people, many of them elderly, are being put at risk when using this drug when there are safer, more effective alternatives available. We agree with the British government's conclusion that the efficacy of this product 'is poorly established and the risk of toxicity in overdose, both accidental and deliberate, is unacceptable."
Public Citizen has a reputation for identifying dangerous drugs; products such as Vioxx, Ephedra, Bextra, Rezulin, Baycol, Propulsid were found years before they were taken out of the market.