Raptiva Side Effect Attorneys

Raptiva Side Effects

Although the pharmaceutical manufacturer Genentech Inc. has been marketing Raptiva since 2003, the company did not include what's known as a black box warning label on the medication until October of 2008, per the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Let's discuss some of the more common Raptiva side effects:

• Bacterial infection – at the site of injection points and elsewhere.
• Greater susceptibility to a brain disease called viral meningitis.
• Greater susceptibility to fungal disease.
• Susceptibility to other infections at or around the site of the injection.
• Worsening of psoriasis upon withdrawal from the drug.
• A potentially fatal brain disease called Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).

In epidemiological medicine, it can often be difficult to determine cause and effect because many factors could be at play. For instance, an association between taking Raptiva and developing Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy doesn't mean that the drug is actually causing the disease. However, given the rarity of PML in the general population pool and the commonness of the condition among Raptiva patients, one might reasonably infer that the drug is making patients more susceptible.

PML can be fatal, and the symptoms are wide ranging. Patients often have trouble with slurred speech and blurred vision as well as coordination problems, dizziness and mental degeneration.

Patients who have been taking Efalizumab (the generic name for Raptiva) longer may be at higher risk for developing side effects. Of the four patients currently identified as having developed PML while on Raptiva, all had been on the medication for over three years.

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy attacks the brain and central nervous system, and so far medical science has not found a cure.

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