Tasigna Atherosclerosis Lawsuit News

Tasigna Studies Show The Drug Should Be Taken As A Last Resort

Tasigna is being over-promoted as a breakthrough cancer drug, encouraging its overuse

Sunday, February 24, 2019 - Tasigna, the brand name for anti-cancer chemotherapy drug nilotinib, is prescribed by oncologists to kill and stop the spread of cancer cells. The drug is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for all patients one year of age or older, suffering from Philadelphia positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+CML). CML is a type of blood cancer and one of the fastest spreading and most difficult to treat diseases. CML treatment requires a patient to take the most toxic drugs that carry the most severe side effects and produce potentially long-term negative medical consequences. The life-threatening long-term side effects of anti-cancer drugs called nilotinib were starting to appear in the oncology community as early as 2013. Nature.com was one of the first online publication to warn the public that CML drugs called nilotinib (Tasigna) could cause atherosclerosis and put a cancer patient's life at risk. Tasigna lawyers representing national claims can help to consult families or individuals harmed by Tasigna atherosclerosis.

On October 29, 2007, Nilotinib drug Tasigna received US approval to treat cancer patients suffering from CML with resistance or intolerance to existing therapies. An article dating back to 2013 outlines the diseases that are associated with nilotinib (Tasigna) as atherosclerosis including "coronary artery disease (CAD), cerebral vascular disease (CVD) and peripheral artery occlusive disease (PAOD)." The review cites two paper that was published in the medical journal "Leukemia," which found the link between those taking nilotinib and atherosclerosis. The report focused on a study where scientists screened 129 CML patients to check for peripheral artery occlusive disease (PAOD) and found five cases of overt PAOD. In another part of the study, 27 patient with existing PAOD were studied and it was determined that "all but one of these patients were exposed to nilotinib (Tasigna) therapy." Authors of the nilotinib study were concerned with the long-term survivability of patients due to "accelerated atherosclerosis with nilotinib" as a first-line of treatment only. Doctors were advised to start with the less toxic imatinib and only switch to nilotinib as a last resort.

In addition to the Leukemia study, the FDA has recently approved the use of Tasigna for children as young as one-year-old. In so doing, the FDA ignored the warnings of Tasigna causing atherosclerosis in otherwise healthy adults with cancer. A 2008 article in Cure Today (Cancer Updates, Research, and Education) shows children surviving cancer have as high as a 10-fold chance of developing atherosclerosis.

To their credit, the FDA has required Novartis AG, maker of Tasigna, to include a more thorough warning to be placed in Tasigna's product literature to warn consumers of the heightened risk of patients developing heart disease. The warning stresses oncologists monitor their patients, before, during, and after Tasigna (nilotinib) treatments for signs that they are developing atherosclerosis, a narrowing of the arteries caused by a buildup of fatty blood platelets called plaque. Atherosclerosis causes rapid plaque buildup resulting in less nutrient and oxygen-rich blood making its way to the extremities of the feet and toes potentially causing tissue death in the extremities that requires amputation.

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OnderLaw, LLC is a St. Louis personal injury law firm handling serious injury and death claims across the country. Its mission is the pursuit of justice, no matter how complex the case or strenuous the effort. The Onder Law Firm has represented clients throughout the United States in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation such as Pradaxa, Lexapro and Yasmin/Yaz, where the firm's attorneys held significant leadership roles in the litigation, as well as Actos, DePuy, Risperdal and others. The Onder Law Firm has won more than $300 million in four talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits in St. Louis. Law firms throughout the nation often seek its experience and expertise on complex litigation.