Darvocet Side Effects Lawsuits Remain after Recall

Cincinnati, OHWhile Xanodyne has recalled the painkillers, lawsuits over Darvocet side effects still remain, including one involving the death of 22-year-old Kira Nicole Gilbert, who took the drugs after suffering a torn knee ligament, Cincinnati.com reports.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">Gilbert's parents, Tammy and John Gilbert, have filed one of the lawsuits against the drugmaker, claiming the painkillers caused their daughter to develop heart failure, which ultimately killed her in April 2009.

"I took the doctor's word, and I took the information on that medicine that it was safe. It wasn't," Tammy Gilbert told the news source. "This has destroyed our life."

The US Food and Drug Administration reportedly claims that new rules allowed the agency to order clinical trials of the painkiller from Xanodyne. However, some critics argue that the risks of Darvocet had been known for a number of years, and that the recall was issued far too late, according to the news provider.

The FDA announced in November that it was pulling the pain medications off the US market due to evidence that they could potentially cause heart damage, according to ABC News.