Manic Issues of Pristiq Backs Legal Issues in Pristiq Lawsuit
It can be recalled that in 2008 the FDA gave the go signal for Wyeth to market its new anti-depressant, Pristiq. Note that Pristiq is a metabolite of Wyeth’s soon-to-go-off-patent Effexor. Thus, it is essentially old wine repacked in a new bottle. At the time, a Tufts University psychiatrist, Danny Carlat, criticized the drug on his blog, negatively commenting on the drug’s ineffectiveness.
Last June, a Wyeth executive publicly admitted that the company knows the drug to bring withdrawal problems just as Effexor does to its users. Since then, sporadic reports of problems with the drug from people who’ve taken it are on the rise.
In proper perspective, since Pristiq’s approved early in 2008, the medication has already generated 1,272 adverse events to the FDA through the end of 2008. That’s a big statistical sampling in such a short period of time, considering that this drug is not popularly used. It is notable that the company did not detail its Pristiq sales in 2008 and 2009, giving an impression that the sales weren;t so significant to mention. In contrast, Effexor sales reached $3.9 billion in 2008.
It is a discouraging fact that, of those reported increase in suicidal tendencies brought by Pristiq, 17 cases were completed suicides. By the end of 2008, there were 48 cases of suicidal ideation reported. Reports of minor side effects include nausea, dizziness, confusion, tremor, and drug-induced mania.
With such increasing incidence of risk, a Pristiq lawsuit is mostly consequential.
To document, here is one testimony from a patient:
“I took Pristiq for 8 days and while I started to feel better from my minor depression, my blood pressure went through the roof so I had to stop taking it. I am on day 3 off of it and I can barely function and that’s after taking it only for 8 days. I was told I didn’t have to taper off because I was only taking 50 mg and for such a short amount of time. I am dizzy, nauseous, can’t stop crying, having suicidal thoughts and basically uncontrollable emotionally. I never imagined I would suffer so much coming off of it after only taking it for 8 days. This medicine should not be sold. It hurts more than it helps. I pray this goes away soon before I lose everything that matters to me.”
It is being hoped that this person is able to resolve whatever withdrawal symptoms he is experiencing, just as for the rest of Pristiq takers. But hope can be more tangible if a Pristiq lawsuit is brought to the fore before people turned into anti-depressant junkies for life.
Processing your request, Please wait....
