Oklahoma Injury Lawyer Blog

Call your doctor for an appointment. You will want to see if you can get a prescription for a different pain medication. Immediately stopping the drug can cause withdrawal symptoms, so you'll need to follow your doctor's instructions on tapering down on it.

Even though the drug was banned in the U.K. six years ago, the drug was only recently banned here in the U.S.

According to Public Citizen, the side effects (heart problems) will go away once the drug's use is ended.

The FDA announced in November 2010 that the Darvon, Darvocet, and their generic medication wree being withdrawn from the U.S. market. The painkillers were linked to serious heart risks that could result in sudden death.

The FDA received reports of the problems as early as 1978. Consumer groups began calling for the ban of the drug in 2006. The drugs were withdrawn in Europe in June 2009, but stayed on the market here. Finally the FDA removed the drug this past November.

Here's the FDA's video on the recent information to take the drug off the market:

Recent studies have linked the active ingredient (propoxyphene) in Darvon and Darvocet to serious and sometimes fatal heart rhythm abnormalities. The FDA requested the withdrawal of the products last week.

Calls for the products withdrawal have been ongoing for years. A group call Public Citizen's Health Research Group petitioned the FDA to ban the substance in 2006.