Tasigna Atherosclerosis Lawsuit News

Novartis Put Profits Ahead of Patients

Novartis AG Failed to Warn America that Tasigna causes heart disease

Thursday, September 7, 2017 - Novartis AG Pharmaceuticals relies on sales of their leading cancer drug, Tasigna for a major part of the billions of dollars in profits the company makes from the oncology market. One thing the company wants to avoid at all cost is negative publicity that could cause them to have to admit that Tasigna has been linked to atherosclerosis and peripheral artery disease that can cause the victim to have their toes, foot or leg amputated and often causes sudden death from heart attack or stroke. Tasigna is an alternative drug to Gleevec, Novartis other anti-cancer chemotherapy drug and has been pushed by Novartis marketing representatives as more effective and safer than Gleevec in treating chronic myeloid leukemia, a deadly form of bone cancer. Novartis was fined 3.3 billion dollars in 2015 by the US Department of Justice when it was uncovered that Novartis marketing executive had pushed the sales of Tasigna to replace their other drug Gleevec purely for financial considerations and also that executives conducted a fraudulent scheme to kick back money to American oncologists and pharmacists that would switch from Gleevec to Tasigna. Phoney drug education clinics were set up to pay doctors and pharmacists to educate each other on the benefits of using Tasigna. In return for promoting the drug, the government lawsuit alleged that doctors steered patients to certain pharmacies that prescribed Tasigna and then paid the pharmacy rebates. All this was done instead of warning doctors and pharmacists, as the company had done years earlier in Canada, that using Tasigna causes atherosclerosis and peripheral artery disease.

Peripheral artery disease is a rapid and irreversible thickening or the major arteries that lead to the legs, arms, and heart. Thickening of the arteries lessens the volume of blood that can flow through, blood that carries vital nutrients and critical life-giving oxygen to the body's extremeties, the fingertips, and the toes. Left untreated atherosclerosis and peripheral artery disease will only get worse and the only possible outcomes are certain, often instantaneous death. If a chunk of artery-clogging plaque becomes dislodged it can travel through the artery and completely block blood flow in smaller veins leading to a major organ, usually the brain or heart. A blood clot in the artery and veins leading to the brain is called a stroke and to the heart is called a heart attack or cardiac arrest. In either case, one can be left permanently paralyzed unable to move or speak, or instantly dead from a heart attack.

The usual signs to watch for that could indicate that a Tasigna patient has peripheral artery disease is pain in the legs or arms but one shouldn't wait until those signs occur to become alarmed. If a Tasigna patient is diagnosed with high blood pressure, chances are the patient is in the early stages of PAD.

Black box warning labels now required on Tasigna clearly state that the drug has side effects more deadly than that to which the drug was originally intended to cure. If you have used Tasigna you must see your physician immediately and be tested for atherosclerosis and peripheral artery disease. Failing to do so can lead to amputations, paralysis, and sudden death from strokes and heart attack.

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Lawyers for Tasigna Atherosclerosis Lawsuits

Attorneys handling Tasigna lawsuits for leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and multiple myeloma offer free, no-obligation case review for individuals and families who believe they may have grounds to file a Tasigna lawsuit. Working on a contingency basis, these attorneys are committed to never charging legal fees unless they win compensation in your Tasigna lawsuit. The product liability litigators handling Roundup claims at the Onder Law Firm have a strong track record of success in representing families harmed by dangerous drugs and consumer products.