Generic Fioricet

Do not use Fioricet if you have used an MAO inhibitor such as furazolidone (Furoxone), isocarboxazid (Marplan), phenelzine (Nardil), rasagiline (Azilect), selegiline (Eldepryl, Emsam, Zelapar), or tranylcypromine (Parnate) in the last 14 days. A dangerous drug interaction could occur, leading to serious side effects. Tell your doctor if you have ever had alcoholic liver disease (cirrhosis) or if you drink more than 3 alcoholic beverages per day. You may not be able to take medicine that contains acetaminophen. You should not take Fioricet if you are allergic to acetaminophen, butalbital, or caffeine, or if you have porphyria.

To make sure you can safely take Fioricet, tell your doctor if you have any of these other conditions:

• kidney disease,
• liver disease; or
• a history of mental illness or suicidal thoughts.

Butalbital may be habit forming and should be used only by the person it was prescribed for. Never share Fioricet with another person, especially someone with a history of drug abuse or addiction. Keep the medication in a place where others cannot get to it.

FDA pregnancy category C. It is not known whether Fioricet will harm an unborn baby. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant while using this medication. Acetaminophen, butalbital, and caffeine can pass into breast milk and may harm a nursing baby. Do not use Fioricet without telling your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.

General

Butalbital, acetaminophen, and caffeine tablets should be prescribed with caution     in certain special-risk patients, such as the elderly or debilitated, and those     with severe impairment of renal or hepatic function, or acute abdominal conditions.

Laboratory Tests

In patients with severe hepatic or renal disease, effects of therapy should     be monitored with serial liver and/or renal function tests.

Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility

No adequate studies have been conducted in animals to determine whether acetaminophen     or butalbital have a potential for carcinogenesis, mutagenesis or impairment     of fertility.

Pregnancy

Teratogenic Effects

Pregnancy Category C: Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with     this combination product. It is also not known whether butalbital, acetaminophen,     and caffeine can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can     affect reproduction capacity. This product should be given to a pregnant woman     only when clearly needed.

Nonteratogenic Effects

Withdrawal seizures were reported in a two-day-old male infant whose mother     had taken a butalbital-containing drug during the last two months of pregnancy.     Butalbital was found in the infant’s serum. The infant was given phenobarbital     5 mg/kg, which was tapered without further seizure or other withdrawal symptoms.

Nursing Mothers

Caffeine, barbiturates, and acetaminophen are excreted in breast milk in small     amounts, but the significance of their effects on nursing infants is not known.     Because of potential for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants from butalbital,     acetaminophen, and caffeine, a decision should be made whether to discontinue     nursing or to discontinue the drug, taking into account the importance of the     drug to the mother.

Pediatric Use

Safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients below the age of 12 have not     been established.

Geriatric Use

Clinical studies of Fioricet® (Butalbital, Acetaminophen, and Caffeine     Tablets USP) did not include sufficient numbers of subjects aged 65 and over     to determine whether they respond differently from younger subjects. Other reported     clinical experience has not identified differences in responses between the     elderly and younger patients. In general, dose selection for an elderly patient     should be cautious, usually starting at the low end of the dosing range, reflecting     the greater frequency of decreased hepatic, renal, or cardiac function, and     of concomitant disease or other drug therapy.

Butalbital is known to be substantially excreted by the kidney, and the risk     of toxic reactions to this drug may be greater in patients with impaired renal     function. Because elderly patients are more likely to have decreased renal function,     care should be taken in dose selection, and it may be useful to monitor renal     function.