Maryland Accident Law Blog
It is important for you to know that you know that if you were injured or became sick from taking a prescription or over-the-counter medication, you may be able to obtain Maryland injury damages by filing a dangerous drug lawsuit. Unfortunately, even though drug manufacturers are supposed to make sure that their medications are safe for patients to use, and warn of possibly dangerous side effects, this isn’t always the case.
In recent products liability news, a woman who took Humira to treat her Crohn’s disease is suing Abbott Laboratories because she says that the drug Humira caused her to sustain permanent damage to her optic nerves. Jamie Bixby says that when she called the drug manufacturer’s helpline to report that she was experiencing eye pain, a nurse told her that the symptoms weren’t related to Humira. Bixby eventually sought emergency care when one of her eyes began experiencing blurred vision with black holes. An eye doctor later said that Bixby’s optic nerves had sustained permanent injury.
In her dangerous drug complaint, Bixby contents that if Abbott had warned her or her gastroenterologist that her eye pain could have been caused by taking Humira, she would have stopped taking the medication right away and immediately gotten the medical help she needed. She says that before Abbott started marketing Humira to Crohn’s patients, it should have known the potential risk it posed to the eyes—especially as similar drugs reportedly have caused similar optic nerve deterioration. Bixby notes that those other drugs, which are made by competitors, warn about this specific injury risk.
Bixby is not the only person to recently sue Abbott. Last month, another patient with Crohn’s disease filed her dangerous drug lawsuit over the nerve damage she sustained in her feet that she blames on Humira. Two arthritis patients have also filed their dangerous drug lawsuits contending that they developed lymphoma from taking Humira.
Abbott Labs Sued on Claims Humira Caused Permanent Eye Damage, Bloomberg, May 23, 2011
Cancer Risks to Remicade® and Humira® Explained, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America
Related Web Resources:
Humira, NIH.gov
More Blog Posts:
FDA Warns that Topamax May Increase Risk of Oral Birth Defects, Maryland Accident Law Blog, May 4, 2011
Roche Loses Drug Litigation Lawsuit and Is Ordered to Pay Almost $13 Million to Three Accutane Users, Maryland Accident Law Blog, December 11, 2008
500 Unapproved Prescription Cough and Cold Medications Banned by FDA, Pharmacy Error Injury Lawyer, March 22, 2011