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Zelnorm Pulled For Heart Attacks and Strokes
Legal Help - Zelnorm Heart Attacks and StrokesIf you reside in Canada, please [click here] for the Canadian complaint form.US residents: if you or a loved one has suffered a heart attack or stroke while taking Zelnorm, please click the link below to send your complaint to a lawyer who will review it at no cost or obligation. Posted on Nov-19-04 Updated on Nov-19-07 |
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Earlier this year Novartis Pharmaceuticals voluntarily removed the pro-motility agent Zelnorm (tegaserod maleate, and prescribed for chronic constipation) from the market after reports of serious adverse events in patients. These included heart attack, stroke, and worsening chest pain that can lead to a heart attack. [
"I first heard about Zelnorm on a TV commercial and how it helps with bloating and swelling. My doctor got the drug approved by my insurance company and I started taking Zelnorm as soon as it came out, around the summer of 2002," says Brenda. "It worked for a few months but it got to the point where I had to also use stool softeners and constipation pills. I was bloated all the time and felt really uncomfortable." [
"About a month ago I was surfing the Internet and saw the recallâ€"I freaked out because I had recently had some issues with my heart. I stopped taking it that very night," says 59-year-old Truitt. On March 30th, Novartis, the drug manufacturer, pulled Zelnorm from the market after the FDA determined the risks outweighed the benefits." [
Zelnorm was pulled from the market on March 30, 2007. But Nancy Harris didn't know about the recall until her doctor phoned the pharmacist to get her prescription renewed. Isn't it the duty of Novartis, the manufacturer of Zelnorm, to notify the medical community when its drug has been linked to heart problems and even death? When its drug has been recalled? [
At the time it was removed from the market, Zelnorm was one of the 200 most prescribed brand-name medications in the United States, with over 2.6 million prescriptions written during 2006 alone. Sales were $561 million worldwide in 2006, with a 34% increase in total sales over 2005. [
"Sylvia took one Zelnorm tablet twice a day and she got refills every few months," says Steve (first name only to protect his privacy). "She started to get breathing problems and one day they got so bad that I drove her to ER. The doctors said she was having a heart attack. She quickly went downhill. They air vacced Sylvia to a hospital in Portland and she was kept in a special cardiac unit." [
Zelnorm is used to speed the movement of stools through the colon and has been linked to serious cases of diarrhea, ischemic colitis and even death. As a result, the FDA has ordered that a precaution about the intestinal conditions be placed on the label, along with a larger warning about severe diarrhea. 
JUL-24-07: Of the 11,614 Zelnorm recipients, thirteen developed life-threatening cardiovascular side effects. Among them, four suffered heart attacks and one died. [
JUL-11-07: In May, Swissmedic, a Swiss medical agency, ordered a recall for Zelnorm (also known in some countries as Zelmac). Swissmedic said that the risks associated with Zelnorm were greater than the benefits after a study revealed an increased risk of cardiovascular problems. [
APR-24-07: Zelnorm has been linked to the death of an otherwise healthy 56-year-old woman with no known heart problems in her own prior medical, or family history. [
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that, at its request, Novartis Pharmaceuticals has stopped sales of Zelnorm. The action was taken after a study showed increased risk of serious side effects in people taking Zelnorm. [© 2001-2009 Online Legal Marketing. All rights reserved.