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Rezulin
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Rezulin was developed and marketed by Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis as a treatment for Type 2 Diabetes. Rezulin improves the body's efficiency in using insulin, thus helping with glucose control. This medication proved to be very popular, and of the approximately fifteen to twenty million Americans with this form of diabetes, approximately one million started to take Rezulin shortly after its 1997 approval for public use by the Food and Drug Administration. Even at this time, it was known that Rezulin was associated with liver damage in some users.
Although regular testing was instituted to check Rezulin users for liver health, with tests approximately once per month, some users experienced very rapid onset of liver toxicity, with the condition appearing within the weeks between scheduled tests.
In March, 2000, following a safety review by the FDA, Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis announced that it was voluntarily withdrawing Rezulin from the market. The FDA's comparison of Rezulin to other similar drugs revealed Rezulin to be significantly more dangerous than available alternative medications, and determined the risk of Rezulin use to be unacceptable.
Negative health consequences from Rezulin use include liver failure, necessitating liver transplant or causing death. Symptoms of liver toxicity associated with Rezulin include jaundice, nausea, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, fatigue, and darkened urine. If these symptoms appear, any person who has used Rezulin should immediately contact a doctor. There have been at least thirty-eight cases of acute liver failure among Rezulin users.
Lawsuits against Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis over Rezulin suggest that the company ignored the dangers of Rezulin, while the drug received "fast track" approval by the FDA over the objection of several FDA scientists. The drug was banned in England in 1997. For more than two years, Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis fought attempts to remove Rezulin from the United States market, prior to the March, 2000 decision by the FDA. It is estimated that sales of Rezulin amounted to $1.8 billion dollars.
If you that feel you, or someone you know, have been injured by a medical or pharmaceutical product, determining your legal rights can be complicated, and it may be unclear who to bring a claim against, and to what sort of damages you are entitled. To ensure that you receive just compensation, you should consider contacting an attorney with experience handling this type of case.
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