Elmiron Attorney

If you’ve taken the bladder drug Elmiron and have suffered an eye disorder called retinal maculopathy or another vision problem, the pharmaceutical company that manufactured the drug could be liable for your injuries.

Maculopathy can lead to serious vision problems, including irreversible blindness.

The dangerous medications attorneys at the Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers in Boston have decades of experience in dealing with claims involving unsafe medications.

Our law firm has the resources to take on deep-pocketed pharmaceutical companies, and our attorneys aren’t afraid to go head to head with these powerful companies in court and win.

We offer free and confidential consultations. That means there are no upfront fees until we win your case and recover money for you.

Consumers should be able to trust that the drugs they are taking have been carefully tested and are safe. When this isn’t the case, drug companies should be held liable and forced to pay a price for their negligence.

Our law firm prides itself on keeping abreast of new developments in all areas of the law. Our dangerous medications attorneys are actively monitoring this new area of litigation and ready to help you win your Elmiron claim.

We will help you build a case against the drug manufacturer and any other liable parties and make sure that you receive full compensation for your injuries.

The dangerous medications attorneys at the Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers will perform a free and confidential review of your case and let you know if you are likely to benefit from proceeding with an Elmiron claim.

In most situations, you must have taken Elmiron for at least two years and experienced vision problems. These vision problems must have started while you were taking the drug or within one year of discontinuing use of the drug. Again, an attorney can advise as to whether you have a viable Elmiron claim.

It’s a good idea to write down information about your use of Elmiron. To properly evaluate your case and likelihood of success, a lawyer will want to know when you started taking Elmiron and the dosage, any vision problems you’ve experienced since taking the drug and any medical treatments or diagnoses you’ve received.

You should save evidence of your Elmiron use such as pill bottles and pharmacy receipts, as well as any other medical documentation related to your injuries. This evidence might be beneficial if you proceed with an Elmiron claim.

Vision problems experienced by patients taking Elmiron include:

• Degenerative maculopathy
• Macular retinopathy
• Macular/pattern dystrophy
• Maculopathy
• Pigmentary maculopathy
• Retinopathy
• Retinal pigmet epithelium atrophy
• Metamorphosia
• Scotoma
• Unilateral or bilateral blindness
• Trouble seeing at night
• Vision impairment or loss, including difficulty reading, blurred vision and seeing muted colors

Elmiron manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals says on its prescription assistance website that the most important information consumers should know about Elmiron is that it should be taken as prescribed by a doctor and that it is a weak anticoagulant, or blood thinner, which might increase bleeding.

The drug maker lists the most common side effects as hair loss, diarrhea, nausea, blood in the stool, headache, rash, upset stomach, abnormal liver function tests, dizziness and bruising. The company says patients taking Elmiron have also reported weight gain and swelling caused by fluid buildup. Jannsen Pharmaceuticals says patients should call their doctors if they find blood in their stool or if the side effects persist and become a bother.

A number of lawsuits have been filed against Janssen Pharmaceuticals. The plaintiffs in these lawsuits claim Janssen failed to warn the public about vision problems associated with the use of Elmiron capsules.

Claims against drug manufacturers over dangerous and defective medications fall under the category of product liability.

Plaintiffs asserting product liability claims typically argue that a drug was defectively manufactured, had dangerous side effects and wasn’t marketed properly.

In the case of Elmiron lawsuits, plaintiffs are alleging that Janssen Pharmaceuticals knew about the vision-related side effects associated with use of the drug but failed to disclose the risk. In addition, plaintiffs are accusing the drug maker of failing to provide adequate warnings about the dangers of using Elmiron.

Plaintiffs in these cases must prove that they suffered an injury, Elmiron is defective, the defect caused the injury and they used the drug as it was intended. They must prove that the injury would not have occurred if they did not take Elmiron.

In addition to the drug manufacturer, other parties could be held liable, including Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceutical’s parent company, as well as companies involved in the testing of the drug or pharmacies that sold the drug.

Product liability claims are complicated, and you’ll need a proficient attorney to guide you through the process. The product liability attorneys at the Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers have successfully handled dangerous drug claims against big pharmaceutical companies and can do the same for you.

If our product liability attorneys determine that you have a valid Elmiron claim, we will help ensure that your injuries are properly documented. Medical documentation is important to establish the link between Elmiron and your vision impairment and substantiate that your injuries are as serious as you say they are.

Our attorneys will help you recover for past and future medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering and more. In certain situations, plaintiffs in these cases are awarded punitive damages to punish the drug company for its conduct and deter others from engaging in similar behavior.

Product liability cases often hinge on expert testimony, especially in medical cases in which an expert’s opinion is needed for a jury to understand the facts of a case. Our attorneys will call on our network of national experts who can testify as to the cause of your injury, medical prognosis and damages.

In addition, our attorneys will ensure that you adhere to all applicable deadlines and don’t miss out on your chance to receive compensation for your injuries. In Massachusetts, individuals who are injured by a dangerous medication have three years to file suit. An attorney can explain when that three-year period starts in your particular case.

In some cases, a settlement is the best solution for all parties involved and avoids a stressful and time-consuming trial. We will make certain that any settlement properly compensates you for your injuries. Our attorneys are not only fierce litigators but skilled negotiators who have negotiated multi-million dollar settlements for many clients.

Elmiron, also known by the generic name pentosan polysulfate sodium, or PPS, is used to treat pain and discomfort caused by a bladder disorder known as interstitial cystitis. More than one million people in the United States are affected by the disease. The disease mainly affects women.

Elmiron is also used to treat osteoarthristis.

Elmiron has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat interstitial cystitis. FDA approval does not shield a drug manufacturer from being sued for placing a dangerous product on the market.

A 2018 study linked Elmiron usage to retina damage. The retina is a thin layer of tissue near the optic nerve that lines the back of the eye. The retina receives light that the lens has focused and converts the light into signals that it sends to the brain for visual recognition.

In 2019, three ophthalmologists at Kaiser Permanente found that about 25% of their patients who had “significant exposure” to Elmiron showed definite signs of eye damage that mimicked other retinal problems such as age-related macular degeneration and pattern dystrophy. Significant exposure refers to the length of time that patients have been taking the drug. Maculopathy is the most common cause of blindness in the United States.

The type of maculopathy linked to Elmiron is referred to as pigmentary maculopathy. This type of maculopathy is believed to be unique to Elmiron users.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people have used the drug and are at risk of permanent vision damage.

One of the ophthalmologists involved in the study recommended that patients who show no signs of retina toxicity be screened for retina damage at least once a year. He advised that patients who show some signs of damage speak to their physician about discontinuing the medication.

You can read more about the study in an October 2019 press release from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The group is the world’s largest association of eye physicians and surgeons.

Subsequent studies have reported a link between Elmiron and retina damage.

In January 2020, the three Kaiser Permanente ophthalmologists analyzed data for 117 patients with interstitial cystitis who took Elmiron. They found that 27 showed signs of maculopathy and that those who took more than 1,500 grams of the drug had the highest toxicity.

To learn more about how our dangerous medications attorneys can help you with your Elmiron claim, contact Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers today at (617) 777-7777 or using our online form.