What is propoxyphene-n/apap used for?

Pain: the brand name was Darvocet and was a scheduled narcotic that has since been removed from the market, but there is still some out there in medicine cabinets.

Narcotic Pain Killer: Generally for mild to moderate pain not controlled with other non-narcotic modalities. It is habit-forming and as such is a controlled substance under the DEA schedule III drugs.

Treat pain: but propoxyphene (or Darvon) is no longer available in the US. This product, which is chemically quite close to methadone, was felt by many authorities to be an expensive and potentially dangerous placebo, and many studies of darvon failed to show any real analgesic effect outside of the apap (tylenol) part. The n is the salt form -napsylate (instead of hydrochloride). Was taken off market in 90s