Meds!!!!

Has there ever been such a medication as propoxyphene? AKA Darvon and Darvocet, it leads the pack in uselessness and sudden deaths. There were 23 million prescriptions written for propoxyphene in the US in 2009. As Darvon, there has been no known pain relief; as Darvocet, combined with Tylenol, well...the Tylenol seems to help.

First approved in 1958 (congratulations on the golden anniversary), the drug has long been a favorite of junkies, potential suicides, and some docs. Only a few docs prescribe it, apparently; but, woo-hoo, they prescribe lots of it. The FDA has taken a look several times:

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/Drugs/AnestheticAndLifeSupportDrugsAdvisoryCommittee/ucm129256.pdf

and

http://www.citizen.org/publications/publicationredirect.cfm?ID=7420

And this from the VA

http://www.pbm.va.gov/reviews/propoxyphenereview.pdf

Incredibly, when presented with the data in late 2009, the FDA advisory board voted 14-12 to voice disapproval of propoxyphene. Who are those twelve people??? Do they see a reflection when they look in a mirror?

It has been banned in most places; notable for not banning are England and the US. In England, the manufacturer poured big, big money into keeping the requlatory wolves at bay; the result is that there is a limited lifetime left for it on the market.

We're still selling it with no restrictions, though.

http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/fda-stops-short-ban-darvon/2009-07-08

A large part of the market for propoxyphene is nursing homes, which are way, way, over-represented. Why is this not a surprise?

Once again: this is a deadly drug, which has no known beneficial effect. Just aceteminophen is better. Propoxyphene kills people every day. If someone prescribes propoxyphene, malpractice starts to look like an open-and-shut case. One reason that the FDA is reluctant to do a ban is that, under current regulations, drugs are either approved or illegal; there is fear that if chronic users are suddenly cut off from their supply, liability issues will arise.

The easy solution would be to change the regs so that a period of withdrawal would be allowed. This will not happen because:

I live surrounded by crazy people, who say crazy things, and expect me to just move my head up and down. Comments?