FDA Pulls Darvon Painkiller Due to Safety Risks

WASHINGTON – The maker of the painkiller Darvon is pulling the drug off the market under pressure from public health officials who say it causes dangerous heart rhythms.

The Food and Drug Administration says the drugmaker Xanodyne will halt marketing of Darvon and related brand Darvocet. The FDA has also called on generic drugmakers to stop marketing low-cost versions of the drug.

The FDA action puts the U.S. in line with Britain, which banned Darvon several years ago due to suicides and accidental overdoses.

Darvon, first approved in the 1950s, is an opioid used to treat mild to moderate pain.

Dr. Manny Alvarez, senior managing health editor of FoxNews.com, said Darvon is still prescribed for chronic pain, mostly in generic form, although not very often.

"These types of drugs are in a class of their own," Alvarez said. "They are old and there are certainly newer drugs that are far more sophisticated and even safer."

The consumer watchdog group Public Citizen had petitioned the FDA to ban the drug, saying its benefits didn't justify a risk that added up to several hundred deaths a year.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.