How to safely discard your old Darvon, Darvocet pills
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has voted to remove Darvocet, Darvon and other drugs containing the active ingredient propoxyphene from the market due to a risk of users developing dangerous abnormal heart rhythms. Pharmacies and health care professionals have been notified by the FDA to no longer carry or prescribe the medication. But if you use or have used propoxyphene, there are some things you need to be aware of.
First, if you have used propoxyphene on a regular basis for more than a few weeks, you should contact your doctor about weaning off propoxyphene and switching to another medication. Some patients who have used propoxyphene on a regular basis may experience withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, anxiety and shivering, if regular use of propoxyphene is stopped suddenly.
The drug should also be removed from your medicine cabinet to ensure it won’t be accidentally taken. Propoxyphene can be disposed of by following these recommendations outlined in the Federal Drug Disposal Guidelines:
- Take the propoxyphene out of its original container and mix it with an undesirable substance, such as used coffee grounds or kitty litter. The medication will be less appealing to children and pets, and unrecognizable to people who may intentionally go through your trash.
- Put the medication in a sealable bag, empty can, or other container to prevent it from breaking out of a garbage bag.
While most medications can be disposed of in the trash, some can be especially harmful and, in some cases, fatal in a single dose if they are used by someone other than the person the medicine was prescribed for. These medicines have special disposal directions that indicate they should be flushed down the sink or toilet after the medicine is no longer needed.
For information about how to discard medications, visit dailymed.nlm.nih.gov.
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