The Health Ministry on Thursday asked 25 pharmaceutical companies to halt shipments of prescription medicines containing phenacetin for use as an antifebrile drug and pain killer, which it said carries the risk of serious renal damage, bladder cancer and other ailments, when taken over long periods in large doses, ministry officials said.
The move came after the ministry learned that at least one woman, in her 80s, died of renal pelvic carcinoma after taking phenacetin. She took the medicine for about 30 years, they said.
They said total shipments of the drug have increased 40 percent over the past 10 years and received reports that some patients taking the drugs over long periods or in large doses have developed diseases of this kind, the officials said.