Illinois Personal Injury Lawyers Expose Dangers of Anemia Drugs Aranesp, Epogen & Procrit
In recent years, we’ve seen a rash of litigation and class action lawsuits involving defective products in the pharmaceuticals industry. Whether it be medical devices causing injury or death, or pharmaceutical products introducing new risks to patients, in Chicago, personal injury attorneys regularly fight cases on behalf of injured parties.
Very recently, federal regulators announced new warnings for anemia drugs following evidence that they can cause blood clots, worsen cancer, and increase the risk of death in some patients. Illinois personal injury lawyers are representing these cases in staggering numbers.
The culprits - Aranesp, Epogen, and Procrit - are in a class of drugs called erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs), primarily used to treat anemia in patients with chronic kidney failure (such as those with end-stage renal disease who require dialysis) and in patients with cancer whose anemia is caused by chemotherapy.
According to an FDA Public Health Advisory, reports of studies with ESAs show a higher chance of serious and life-threatening side effects and greater number of deaths in patients treated with these agents. Officials say Aranesp, Epogen, and Procrit must now carry “black-box” warnings (the most serious kind) on the labels of the anemia drugs to warn about the newly identified risks, including: “Increased Mortality, Serious Cardiovascular and Thromboembolic Events”. The agency is currently re-evaluating the safe use of this drug class.
As the fifth-leading class of prescription pharmaceuticals sold in the US, these drugs are blatantly advertised directly to consumers, even though they are extremely expensive and only available by injection. In and around Chicago, personal injury attorneys who specialize in defective products cases believe these advertisements have contributed to over-prescribing by doctors, for uses which are often not FDA-approved.
If you or a loved one have been prescribed Aranesp, Epogen or Procrit, please contact an Illinois personal injury lawyer immediately.
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