Medications – Bad Side Effects

Medications do wonderful things for many people.  They can ease the pain during and after surgery and they can remove infectious diseases from our bodies.  But as is the case with all technological advancements, there are risks involved.  Sometimes medications have mild side-effects such as runny noses, upset stomachs and itchy eyes.  Other times, however, medications have much more serious side-effects which can lead to permanent disablement and even death.  Three such medications, which have been notorious for their negative impacts outweighing their positive medical effects, are Meridia, Plavix, and Nexium.

The first on the list, Meridia, is an obesity drug that has been marketed as an agent to help overweight people lose – and keep off – unwanted weight.  After multiple studies revealed that Meridia had been linked to a high risk of stroke and heart attack, the drug was yanked from the U.S. market and a Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) warning was released concerning the drug.  The FDA, in their statement, warned physicians to stop prescribing Meridia and warned patients to stop taking it.  The FDA concluded that the availability of the drug in the U.S. market is “not justified when you compare the very modest weight loss that people achieve on this drug to their risk of heart attack or stroke.”  The name of the drug, Meridia, has an eerie similarity to the Latin word “meridiem,” which means “midday.”  As evidenced by the detriment caused by this drug, it’s clear that there’s no such thing as a quick fix to weight loss – you can’t take a pill and lose weight before noon.  And certainly not without side effects.

The second on the list, Plavix, is perhaps the most known drug of the three aforementioned medications.  It is a blood-thinning drug that medical professionals often prescribe for patients at risk of heart attacks.  However, an increasingly high number of lawsuits suggest that maybe the drug isn’t as safe or effective as its marketing team would have you believe.  The drug, which  is advertised as a “super Aspirin” that goes for $4 a pill,  may actually lead to an increased risk of heart attack, in addition to a risk of strokes and possibly fatal blood disorders.  So, in essence, the drug prescribed to patients at risk for heart attacks can actually cause heart attacks.  Many people have gone to court over Plavix, arguing, in part, that it’s no more effective than aspirin yet it creates a much greater risk of dangerous side-effects.  Since the FDA began requiring a new warning on the drug last spring, 40 lawsuits have been filed against the drug’s manufacturers in New Jersey and 11 similar cases popped up in Illinois.  Legal and medical experts expect hundreds or even thousands more lawsuits to arise in the near future regarding the dangerous drug Plavix.

The third (and possibly most shockingly dangerous) drug on the list is Nexium. Since the early 2000’s, Nexium has been helpful to people who suffer from acid-reflux problems.  However, patients who take the drug are beginning to complain more and more about bone deterioration, a wide-spread problem which is leading to broken hips, legs and ankles, as well as various other bone fractures.  Last year, the FDA issued a safety alert about the increased risk of fractures for patients who take Nexium and other related drugs.  Just recently, a lawsuit (which will probably just be the first of many hundreds of such cases) has been filed seeking compensation for the problem of bone deterioration caused by Nexium.  The lawsuit was filed by a 58-year-old, Toledo, Ohio woman who relied on Nexium to quell her acid-reflux problem for seven years.  The woman complained in the suit that the drug caused her to break three bones in her ankle while going down a flight of stairs and break her leg while merely walking.  As it appears, women in their 40s and 50s seem to be at greatest risk for the harmful side-effects that come with taking the drug Nexium.

Medications can be a fantastic addition to the lives of anyone who might need them.  They have changed the course of human history in a profound way.  But there are dangers associated with them, too.  Don’t sit back and let these potentially harmful drugs take run their course on your body without knowing your legal rights.  If you feel that you have been victimized by a drug that was intended to help you, please contact the Law Offices of Aronberg & Aronberg at 561-266-9191 or email us at daronberg@build.simple.biz.

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