BONN -- Medications containing the Fijian recreational drug kava were banned Tuesday in Germany after scientists said the fashionable sedative could damage the liver of those who used it regularly.

Kava, made from a ground root, is in common use in Fiji and other Pacific islands, where parties peak with friends in a contented stupor. It has caught on in Germany in the last couple of years as a cure for bad nerves, especially for teenagers sitting exams.

The Federal Drug and Medical Products Institute in Bonn said it was withdrawing licenses for 86 products after kava was implicated in deaths. Inspectors had concluded the risks from kava use outweighed its benefits.

Most of the drugs were over-the-counter remedies available without any prescription. Homeopathic drugs, where almost indetectible amounts of kava were used, would not be affected by the ban.

DPA quoted the institute as saying it knew of more than 40 German cases of liver damage associated with kava. In three cases patients had died and in six cases, liver transplants had been needed to save patients who had used high doses of kava.

The active agent, kavain, occurs in a root or can be made synthetically. The institute said the liver damage was not permanent and past users were unlikely to get ill if they had since stopped using kava.