Check out the class action suits!
Have you taken Neurontin (or gabapentin), too? I, like many
other people with fibromyalgia and lupus, was prescribed this drug for pain. Luckily,
it did not cause me to be suicidal. How about you? If you contemplated
suicide while taking this drug, then listen up! There is a Canadian class action suit which may partially
compensate for your pain but you just have until Dec 16th to file
your claim.[1] There
are many other serious side effects of this drug but this is the only one which
has deemed to be compensable in this court action. However, there are other class action suits going
on in the US which may assist US residents.[2]
I just learned about this situation when I was reading an article about the billions of dollars in fines paid by Big Pharma for their fraudulent marketing of dangerous drugs.[3] I immediately sat up and paid attention because I was first prescribed Neurontin about a decade ago. I was so over drugged during this period I can’t say exactly how long I took it. I know I felt like I was drunk a lot of the time and eventually I only took it at night. I did experience known side effects like confusion, excessive sleepiness, abnormal eye movements, balance and coordination problems, depression, and anxiety [4] . But back then, my doctors thought these symptoms were all caused by a mystery disease like lupus!
The pharmaceutical manufacturer, Pfizer, never proved that this drug worked on pain caused by
fibromyalgia or lupus. But this did not stop the company from promoting it for
pain and almost a dozen conditions including ADHD, bipolar, restless leg
syndrome, alcohol withdrawal....[5]
Pfizer
was so intent on making it a big seller that one of the sales managers told the
pharmaceutical reps:
”we can’t wait for [physicians] to ask, we
need [to] get out there and tell them up front. Dinner programs, CME programs
and consultantships work great but don’t forget the one- on- one. That is where
we need to be, holding their hand, whispering in their ears “ Neurontin for
pain, Neurotin for monotherapy, Neurontin for bipolar and Neurontin for everything” [6]
Pfizer paid one doctor $308,000 to flog it at conferences; other
doctors were paid to hear the spiel and some doctors were rewarded with trips
to Florida and the Salt Lake Olympics.[7]
By 2004, the Department of Justice prosecuted Pfizer and
they plead guilty to two counts of fraudently promoting Neurontin.[8]
They paid $430,000,000 to reimburse federal and state government for the drug
costs paid by them.[9]
This was a small price to get this drug established. When the marketing strategy commenced in 1998
sales in the US were $98 M but by 2003 sales increased to $2.3 B in the United
States.[10]
Their strategy continues to pay dividends. The FDA has
only approved Neurontin for use in epilepsy and pain
from shingles (postherpetic neuralgia).[11]
But this does not stop doctors from prescribing gabapentin (the generic name for Neurontin) for other conditions and the promotional material is still out there on the internet.
A search of WebMD brings up all kinds of off label uses for
Neurontin like hot flashes, panic disorder, pain disorder, restless leg
syndrome, migraines, MS etc.[12]
Keep in mind, Neurontin is a drug that has killed people and has a black box
danger warning from the FDA. Drugs.com
indicates “it may also be used for other purposes not set out in this
medication guide”. [13]
Does that remind you of the Pfizer’s sale manager’s sales pitch - Neurontin
for everything? If the pharmaceutical companies have proof this drug works
for all of these other conditions, why have they never sought approval from the
FDA? Did they have the evidence needed to get approval? Maybe they thought why bother when doctors have bought into the benefits of Neurontin for so many other purposes!
When a drug company hides the negative test results, doctors can not evaluate the merits of the medications. It
took a court case in 2010 before Pfizer released all of their research trials. [14]
Only then was an independent review of the studies done. Medical researchers at
Therapeutics Initiative, working at the University of British Columbia, concluded that Neurontin reduced
neuropathic pain by less
than 1 on a scale of 1 to 10 in just 15% of the patients while 15% of the patients were harmed by
the medication. [15]
This type of
review can’t be good for the pharmaceutical industry. Big Pharma is
not accustom to an independent group scrutinizing their research and drugs. Thus it
is not surprising to learn that the plug was pulled on this group earlier this
year - especially since the pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies donated $600,000
to the BC Liberal Party over the last eight years. [17]
That too (like the money spent on kickbacks to doctors) seemed like money
well- spent by Big Pharma. However, an international lobby [18]embarrassed
the government into reinstating the funding to this group a few weeks ago. [19]I’d
call this one a minor victory for us little guys who swallow most drugs pushed
our way!
In conclusion, if you have been harmed by this drug, look closely
at the class action suits. And if you still take this drug and wonder why you
feel the way you do, go to www.drugs.com [20]to
see if you are experiencing side effects of Neurontin/gabapentin. Think long
and hard before risking dementia or death, particularly, if your problem is hot
flashes…. because it is your life!
[3]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnosborn/2013/11/07/ho-hum-another-multi-billion-dollar-drug-company-fraud-settlement/
[11]http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2011/020235s050,020882s035,021129s033lbl.pdf
[12]http://www.webmd.com/search/search_results/default.aspx?sourceType=all&query=gabapentin+uses&navState=38
[15]
ibid
[18]
http://www.canadiandoctorsformedicare.ca/In-The-News/open-letter-to-save-the-therapeutics-initiative.html
[19]
http://www.straight.com/news/514316/therapeutics-initiative-funding-reinstated-bc-government
Oct 22/2013
