Now that the FDA has recalled Darvocet and Darvon, thousands of patients are wondering whether these drugs affected their heart's electrical currents, and more importantly - why they weren't told that they were at risk for a heart attack?
Darvocet FDA Recall Has Patients Nervous
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration's (FDA) Darvocet recall and Darvon recall has many of the estimated 10 million propoxyphene users nervous after the FDA concluded that the drugs' risks outweighed their benefits.
According to Darvon / Darvocet injury lawyers, these drugs affect a person's heart electrical currents. They decrease the time between a person's heartbeat; thus putting them at risk for a cardiac event such as a heart attack (myocardial infarction) or other dangerous side effects. Propoxyphene, the main ingredient in both drugs, blocks the potassium and sodium channel in the heart and slows the heart's ability to transmit electrical currents - which could cause an arrhythmia.
That's making thousands of people who took Darvon and Darvocet over the years and experienced such an event to wonder whether these drugs may have actually caused that event.
Doctors Prescribed Drugs Like Candy
Doctors have prescribed Darvon and Darvocet painkillers for years - some say like candy. However, one of the things Darvon and Darvocet injury lawyers are seeing is that the effectiveness of these drugs has been questioned for many years. So, not only have there been concerns about the risks, but those risks are amplified when studies revealed that these products are no better than products like Tylenol that contain acetaminophen by itself.
Doctors simply assumed that these products were safe, but the truth is that there's always been a lot of controversy surrounding them. In fact, consumer group Public Citizen has claimed that these drugs were associated with heart attacks, suicides and overdoses for over 30 years now. The group, which filed a lawsuit against the FDA for failing to address the issue, says that there have been over 2000 accidental deaths which can be linked to Darvocet / Darvon use since 1981 and that over 500 deaths have occurred since 2007 alone.
Darvon Lawsuits / Darvocet Lawsuits Expected
It's no surprise that product liability lawyers expect to see many Darvon lawsuits and Darvocet lawsuits in 2011. While they encourage anyone who thinks they may have been injured by these drugs to contact an attorney, they say that it's important for past users to understand that the FDA has said that there is not a cumulative effect from these drugs. In other words, once you stop taking the painkiller, your risk is eliminated.