The producer of the analgesic Darvon is taking the drug off the market under the pressure posed by the public health officials, according to whom the drug causes life-threatening heart rhythms. The Food and Drug Administration supports the statement that the drug maker Xanodyne would put a pause on the marketing of Darvon and related brand Darvocet. The Food and Drug Administration has also put the United States in line with Britain.

The latter has banned Darvon some years ago because of suicides and accidental overdoses. This particular drug was first approved and introduced to the market in 1950s. it was used to cure mild to moderate forms of pain. It is based on opioid.

Dr. Alvarez is the senior managing health editor of FoxNews.com. He says that Darvon is still being prescribed for chronic pain. It is mostly used in generic form, though not very frequently.

“These types of drugs are in a class of their own,” Alvarez said. “They are old and there are certainly newer drugs that are far more sophisticated and even safer.” The consumer watchdog organization Public Citizen had petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to pose a ban the drug by saying its benefits that did not justify a danger that added up to some hundreds of deaths in a year.