Phenacetin, a painkiller, was the world’s first synthetic pharmaceutical drug. It was one of the first painkillers that was not derived from opium while at the same time being absent of antiinflammatory qualities. Phenacetinwas developed in 1878 by an American chemist, Harmon Northrop Morse. It was introduced into the pharmaceutical market in 1887. However, it was withdrawn in 1983 in the United States due to unacceptable levels of interstitial nephritis in patients and potential risks of tumorigenicity. Like in the United States, most Western countries did not ban phenacetin from marketing until 1983. Phenacetin is a component of APC (aspirin-phenacetin-caffeine).
Phenacetin was widely used until the third quarter of the twentieth century, often in the form of an "A.P.C." or aspirin-phenacetin-caffeine compound analgesic, as a remedy for fever and pain. An early formulation (1919) was Vincent's APC in Australia. However the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered the withdrawal of drugs containing phenacetin in November 1983, owing to its carcinogenic and kidney-damaging properties (Federal Register of October 5, 1983 (48 FR 45466)). It was also banned in India.As a result, some branded, previously phenacetin-based preparations continued to be sold, but with the phenacetin replaced by safer alternatives. A popular brand of phenacetin was Roche's Saridon, which was reformulated in 1983 to contain propyphenazone, paracetamol and caffeine. Coricidin was also reformulated without phenacetin. Paracetamol is a metabolite of phenacetin with similar analgesic and antipyretic effects, but the new formulation has not been found to have phenacetin's carcinogenicity.
