Citalopram is an antidepressant prescribed medicine that is also a part of a certain serotonin reuptake inhibitor medication class. So far, Citalopram has been in the news because of its some serious side effects that have resulted in the death of many people. Usually, such a lawsuit is filed on the manufacturer when they don’t focus on the overall health of the person but simply on earning profits.
Due to this sometimes when the manufacturer doesn’t warn the patients or their relatives about the harmful effects just to balance out the sale it is then when the lawsuit is filed against it. Talking about the Citalopram Class Action Lawsuit, it is important to understand more about it so that in future such an option will not be consumed.
Know more about citalopram:
Citalopram which is also popular by the name of Celexa is one of the prominent options that consist of Serotonin. It helps in reducing many serious health issues. Serotonin comes with the action to deal with the chemical messenger that sends out the signal between the nerve cells that can be found in the brain. It is the SSRIs that work to improve the serotonin activity in the mood centre of the brain.
In the year 1998, this medicine was approved and sold in the market with the aim to offer some protection against depressive disorder among adults. Even if it wasn’t approved for the purpose, when it came to off label, this was the primary one to treat certain illnesses.
Talking of the conditions, anxiety, suicide risk, obsessive-compulsive disorder and even diabetic neuropathy to name some are the illness for which this was an efficient treatment. It however came with some side effects that included a high risk of suicide, and even cardiac effects. Sometimes, people even complained of birth defects while some had fatal concerns.
All about different lawsuits:
Talking about the Citalopram Class Action Lawsuit that was filed, well, it wasn’t just one but many. Such lawsuits are filed by the patients or their loved ones against the manufacturer. Forest laboratory along with the Parent company Allergan was the manufacturer who was responsible for all the side effects that had happened. They were accused of creating medicines that caused medicinal injuries, and even birth defects.
The lawsuit also further stated that the manufacturer did not warn about the dangers associated with the medicine. The women who had consumed such medicine in the pregnancy or the one who had an infant were born with some defects. This should have been told before the medicine was advised to be consumed.
With so many lawsuits that have been filed, the cases are still in the state or federal court that is being fought. So far 32 lawsuits along with the birth defect cases and class action one are settled and resolved with the help of dismissal.
Citalopram Legal Difficulties
Citalopram was only approved for adults who had some serious mental issues like depression and anxiety. The manufacturer is never likely to promote such medicine for any other purpose. However, still, it turned out to be the accused of omitting such medicine for the children’s use as well. Even if the company completely denied the wrong marketing which was accused in the year 2010 but still the company had to bear the loss of $313 million to do the settlement with the justice department charges. Besides, the company even pled guilty against the obstruction of justice charges for different employees who were detected lying to the FDA officers at the Forest Department.
In the year 2014, there has been a Dutch study that showed the medicine was never effective as compared to the placebo amongst the kids. The manufacturer thus agreed to pay $4.7 million as the settlement for the class action suit. This even included the use of medicine amongst the children. Parents even stated that the company had misguided them about the medication effectiveness. Due to such mislead the company further had to bear the losses of $10.4 million as settlement refunds.
The medicine approval
When this medicine came on the market it was just approved for mental issues. However, even after its release in the year 1998, it never got any warning until 2004. That was the time when FDA needed all the SSRI antidepressants to issue the warning called black box which is basically associated with suicide risk. This warning further states that medicine can increase the chances of suicidal thoughts or change in behaviour. It is one notable thing since the medication starts showing reaction after the first dosage itself.
Celexa Side Effects
Just the way there have been other medicines with some serious side effects, even Cleexa had come up with some side effects to not ignore. Some of these effects could range from mild and even have subsided after quite a span of time.
There had even been some serious side effects that resulted in life-threatening issues and permanent injury. Talking of some notable issues, it included Increased suicide risk, Heart Effects and Serotonin syndrome. Serotonin syndrome is one dangerous adverse reaction that is caused due to such medicine when there is an increase in Serotonin in the brain.
Conclusion
When Celexa is first started or a dosage change occurs, the medication may cause an increase in suicidal thoughts or behaviours. Other than this Physical birth defects, Omphalocele, Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension, Physical Defects, Craniosynostosis were also some notable issues.
As per the product law, it has now been decided that the sellers and manufacturers will now have to make sure that their medicines are safe for the patients. If they are found dangerous at an undesirable level or any further product defects are noted then the company would be sued and will not be operational any longer. This is one of those medicine that has been one effective yet defective solution for dealing with illness.
