Reglan Lawsuits Allege Drug Causes Serious Side Effects

Reglan lawsuits allege that the nausea drug causes serious neurological disorders such as Tardive Dyskinesia, Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome and Akathisia. These serious Reglan side effects can be devastating and injured victims may be entitled to compensation.

Reglan Injuries

Reglan is dangerous because it can cause side effects beyond what it is prescribed for. Reglan injury attorneys say that the drug affects the nervous system by blocking receptors of dopamine, the chemical that sends signals between the nerves in the brain, and that many patients who have been prescribed a form of metaclopramide have developed neurological disorders including Tardive Dyskinesia, Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS), Akathisia and Torticollis.

• Tardive Dyskinesia (TD). Tardive Dyskinesia is a serious movement disorder that involves involuntary movements, especially of the lower face. Symptoms of Tardive Dyskinesia include involuntary, repetitive movements primarily in the facial muscles such as the mouth, tongue, jaw, and cheeks, or (less commonly) the limbs, fingers and toes.
• Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS). Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS), is a neurological condition identified as rare in the product labeling, is not highlighted by any black box warning, but is nonetheless often fatal.

  Symptoms include high fever, sweating, unstable blood pressure, stupor, muscular rigidity and autonomic dysfunction; these can appear within the first 2 weeks of taking the drug. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) acts as a control system functioning largely below the level of consciousness and controls visceral functions. The ANS affects heart rate, digestion, respiration rate, salivation, perspiration, diameter of the pupils, and other functions. Many primary care physicians do not pick up neurologic disorders and often misdiagnose mild cases of TD.

• Akathisia. Akahtesia, a neurological disorder which is commonly missed by primary care doctors, may cause feelings of intense paranoia and undefined anxiety. While patients with Tardive Dyskinesia may have difficulty sitting still, those with akathisia often have difficulty sitting at all. The disease was first noted in 1903 – 50 years before anti-psychotic medications were introduced. A doctor named Hasovec observed a pair of patients who exhibited symptoms of psychoneurosis. It is now known that akathisia can be the result of withdrawal from opiates, such as morphine.)

  Fifty-one years later, another doctor named Steck observed similar symptoms in patients who had been treated with the new anti-psychotic medications that a corporation called Smith, Kline and French had just introduced. The symptoms he observed included:

  • Shifting weight from one foot to another
  • Walking in place
  • Foot shuffling
  • Leg swinging or repeated crossing

  In the most extreme cases, these patients must pace around, remaining in an agitated state of motion at all times. For this reason, it has often been misdiagnosed as a mental state, for which additional drugs are prescribed – making the problem even worse. Violent and even suicidal tendencies have been reported among these patients, especially when the condition is due to the use of neuroleptic medications.

• Torticollis. Torticollis, a condition which results in neck spasms and causes the head to tilt to one side, has also been linked to Reglan use – although it is not as common as the conditions listed above.