Cancer Drug Lawyers – Anemia Medication Side Effects
The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that three widely used anemia drugs sold by Amgen Inc. and Johnson & Johnson would be required to carry a safety warning that they could cause serious side effects, including death, when used in higher doses and given to some patients.
At issue are drugs sold under the brand names Procrit, Epogen and Aranesp. These drugs are genetically engineered versions of a natural protein, erythropoietin, that increases the number of red blood cells.
But the Food and Drug Administration pointed to recent studies that found using too much of the drugs increased the risk of death, blood clots, strokes and heart attacks in patients with chronic kidney failure. In other studies, patients with head and neck cancer had more rapid tumor growth if they used higher-than-recommended doses.
This is most prevalent in patients who have kidney disease and or cancer. Certain forms of kidney disease are linked to anemia as well as cancer patients who have to undergo chemotherapy. Anemia is common with certain forms of kidney disease, especially once a patient is on dialysis, and when cancer patients take chemotherapy.
Even when the anemia drugs were used at FDA-recommended doses, giving them to cancer patients not on chemotherapy increased the risk of death, the agency warned. Moreover, some doctors have begun giving the drugs to patients following orthopedic surgery, also increasing the risk of blood clots, FDA said.
Friday, the agency added stern warnings to each of the drug’s labels urging that:
- Doctors monitor patients’ levels of red blood cells and use the lowest possible dose to avoid the need for blood transfusions.
- Doctors and patients carefully weigh the risks of using anemia drugs vs. the risk of a transfusion if anemia gets too bad.
If you, or a loved one, have been prescribed Procrit, Epogen or Aranesp and suffered any serious side effects including blood clots, stroke, or death, you should consider consulting with a law firm that can investigate your potential claim. Only a skilled prescription litigation attorney has the experience and resources to thoroughly investigate and validate your case.
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