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Home > Dangerous Drugs > Raptiva
National Raptiva (PML) Litigation Attorneys
in Colorado and Nationwide
The lawyers at Burg Simpson are representing users of Raptiva who have developed a rare and usually fatal disease known as Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML). Raptiva (generically known as efalizumab) is a drug that is used to treat adults who suffer from moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. On February 19, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration issued a public health advisory regarding the use of Raptiva and PML. On April 8, 2009, the FDA announced that Genentech was suspending sales of Raptiva in the United States, due to reports of people developing PML while taking the drug. The company advised physicians to immediately stop prescribing Raptiva for new psoriasis patients and to contact patients currently taking the drug to determine the best course of action for treatment. The company's phased withdrawal of the drug was expected to culminate by June 2009, when Raptiva would no longer be available. It is estimated that as many as 2,000 Americans have taken Raptiva.
Psoriasis is a chronic immune-system disease that causes red, thick patches to develop on the skin. It is most common in people with diabetes, obesity, and heart disease and affects up to 7.5 million people in the United States.
Raptiva is a humanized monoclonal antibody targeted toward the hyperproliferative pathology of psoriasis. As an immunosuppressive agent, Raptiva has the ability to enhance the threat of infection and reactivate latent, chronic infections. PML is caused by a virus that lays dormant in many people and only develops into this serious condition when the host body’s immune system is compromised. Raptiva causes the compromise of the immune system thereby providing the virus its opening to cause PML.
PML is a brain infection that generally affects people who have a weakened immune system and often results in an irreversible decline in neurologic function and death. Raptiva’s mechanism of action suppresses the user’s T-Cells in order to treat the plaque psoriasis, which decreases the function of the immune system. There is no known treatment for PML. PML is a disease similar to Multiple Sclerosis but it progresses much more quickly. Some of the symptoms of PML include weakness or paralysis, vision loss (especially blindness in half of the visual field of each eye), impaired speech and cognitive deterioration.
If you or a loved one has taken Raptiva and has experienced any of these symptoms or has been diagnosed with PML contact Burg Simpson for a free evaluation of your potential claims against Genentech.
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Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine, P.C. is a law firm serving the Rocky Mountain Region. The firm has offices in Denver, Colorado, Cody, WY, Cincinnati, Ohio, & Phoenix, AZ. The Firm is responsible for the content on the website,this information is not to be interpreted as providing legal services,
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