A Lawsuit is One Recourse After a Bextra Adverse Drug Reaction

A Lawsuit is One Recourse After a Bextra Adverse Drug Reaction

Valdecoxib is the generic name for a drug originally approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2001 and marketed under the name of Bextra. Subsequently, increased risk of heart attack and stroke were some of the reasons cited for its removal from the market in 2005. However, one of the most noted issues was the potential for a Bextra adverse drug reaction, particularly in the form of Stevens Johnson syndrome, also known as SJS.

SJS is a serious skin reaction that sometimes leads to death. It can also be caused by other NSAID’s (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), including Celebrex and Ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil).

If you have experienced symptoms of an allergic reaction like itching or burning of the skin, it is important to avoid other sulfa-based drugs, which could cause a similar event. To take increased precaution from such sensitivity, it would be a good idea to avoid other medications known to cause SJS as well, like aspirin. The FDA website offers more information on medications related to this outcome.

The reaction could have occurred after any duration of taking the drug. It may appear after long, uninterrupted use or at first dose. Typically, signs are known to develop in the first two weeks. Within the first four days after onset, the condition is most developed. When the body’s attempt to metabolize a drug goes awry, the signs vary from mild to severe. Since they develop rapidly, it is important to know these symptoms and react quickly, treating any instance as the emergency it could very quickly become.

The first step is to stop taking the drug. Intensive care is usually necessary if the result is SJS, to help prevent the complications of infection that naturally arise. The condition is very painful and involves major precautions and monitoring to prevent death. When SJS overlaps with toxic epidermal necrolysis, another skin reaction known as TEN, it is more likely to be fatal.

Treatment typically consists of helping a patient suffer through the systemic vulnerability entailed in losing the body’s protective layer. There should be a protective environment around a patient, to the exclusion of possible pathogens and contaminants, as the primary risk during the most acute phase is of infection and complication. The patient will likely receive electrolytes and preventive antibiotics, as well as immunoglobulin, used to help the immune system deal with its response. Above all, the cause must be removed from the system, after which natural immunity is once again restored and a process of self-healing can begin (though a patient will always likely be sensitive to the drug). Various pain relief strategies are possible as well.

This serious situation might have been prevented if the medication - intended for pain relief - had been better tested and its possible side effects disclosed. For this reason, when it occurs, the suffering patient or the family on his behalf should seek legal advice. A lawsuit may help recover the costs associated with emergency medical care. Lawsuits that find culpability on the part of the profiting company have also awarded damages for the intense, unnecessary suffering involved. If someone in your family or a loved one has died from this avoidable situation, seeking counsel will provide more information about options available to you, the survivors.

In researching the merits of your case, it is important to distinguish the intense skin rashes that occur from the body’s attempt to metabolize a drug and the more benign form known as erythema multiforme which resolves itself in weeks without major complications.

If you have had a related episode that required hospitalization and careful treatment, consulting a lawyer will inform you of your medical rights. It may be that you are entitled to compensation from Pfizer, the drug maker, or the pharmaceutical company involved in a medicine that caused your illness.