The U.S. government issued a second safety warning Friday on the deaths and dangerous side effects caused by Johnson & Johnson Duragesic skin patch. Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- The U.S. government issued a second safety warning Friday on the deaths and dangerous side effects caused by Johnson & Johnson Duragesic skin patch.

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it has continued to receive reports of deaths and life-threatening side effects after the patch was wrongly prescribed by doctors or incorrectly used by patients.

    It used to be prescribed for patients with cancer or with persistent, severe pain that other opioid painkillers are found inadequate to mitigate. But now, it is prescribed by some doctors to relieve pain after surgery, or even for headaches.

    The patch contains a powerful narcotic called fentanyl, which is delivered through the skin. A study published in a medical journal last summer showed fentanyl was up to 100 times more powerful than morphine and more than 3,500 accidental deaths had been reported to the FDA from 1998 to 2005. After that the government issued an alert.

    "It's a unique problem with patches because of . . . the way that the drug is delivered to the body and the way that it's metabolized," said Dr. Bob Rappaport, head of the FDA division that oversees painkillers, "It's complicated by the patch formulation."

    The agency was asking all manufacturers of fentanyl patches to update safety information and issue a patient-friendly guide to highlight the risks.

    The patch was introduced in 1990 under the brand name Duragesic by Johnson & Johnson, but generic versions by Mylan Inc. and other manufacturers now dominate the market.

    (Agencies)