drug information journal vol 35 pp 293 317 2001 0092 8615 printed in the usa all rights reserved copyright association inc evaluation of characteristics safety withdrawal prescription drugs from worldwide pharmaceutical markets 1960 to 1999 man fung md mba facp pharmacovigilance and epidemiology lilly research laboratories indianapolis indiana eli taiwan taipei anna thornton pharmd kathy mybeck global medical jasmanda hsiao hui wu ms mph ken hornbuckle dvm phd edmundo muniz a descriptive analysis was conducted evaluate withdrawn over past four decades due reasons list including indication duration marketing for were examined among 121 products identified 42 1 european alone 5 0 north america 3 asia pacific 49 6 multiple continents distributions these withdrawals