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February 9, 2009
Dear Kate,
Big news from Public Citizen! Thirty years after Public Citizen first petitioned to have it banned, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committees voted on Jan. 30th to confirm that the risks of propoxyphene (Darvon) outweigh its benefits and recommended that the drug be withdrawn from the market. The FDA should, therefore, remove it from the market.
Most advisory committee members did not think there was evidence that the drug has...
February 9, 2009
Dear Kate,
Big news from Public Citizen! Thirty years after Public Citizen first petitioned to have it banned, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committees voted on Jan. 30th to confirm that the risks of propoxyphene (Darvon) outweigh its benefits and recommended that the drug be withdrawn from the market. The FDA should, therefore, remove it from the market.
Most advisory committee members did not think there was evidence that the drug has significant benefits. Without benefit, serious risk of death - which this drug carries - should not be tolerated. In Florida alone, medical examiners determined that propoxyphene caused the deaths of 85 people in 2007. For 25 of those people, it was the only drug that caused their deaths. These latest data come atop years of other data showing that the drug's risks outweigh its benefits.
How much more evidence does the agency need? We again urge the FDA to do the right thing and ban this drug.
Read more about the Darvon decision at www.WorstPills.org
Sincerely,
Dr. Sidney Wolfe
Director, Health Research Group
Public Citizen
