Remicade Lawsuits

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The arthritis drug Remicade has been linked to a number of serious and potentially life threatening injuries. In September 2008, stronger warnings were added about an increased risk of invasive fungal infections.

STATUS OF REMICADE LAWSUITS: Lawyers are evaluating research surrounding the potential safety concerns involving cancer and Remicade, as well as potential cases for individuals who developed fungal infections.

MANUFACTURER: Centocor and Johnson & Johnson

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OVERVIEW: Remicade (infliximab) is an autoimmune disorder drug known as a Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) Blocker. It is approved by the FDA for treatment of psoriasis, Crohn’s disease, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis.

It was the first TNF antagonist available in the United States, and has been used by more patients world-wide than the other medications in the same class, Enbrel and Humira, combined. It is a blockbuster drug for the pharmaceutical giant, Johnson & Johnson.

REMICADE CANCER SIDE EFFECTS: In 2004, a warning letter was sent to healthcare professionals indicating that Remicade had been associated with more cases of lymphoma among patients receiving the drug. A study published in the May 17, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that Remicade side effects could triple the risk of developing cancer.

In June 2008, the FDA released an early communication about an ongoing safety review involving Remicade and a possible association with the development of lymphoma and other cancers among children and young adults and a Remicade black box cancer warning was added in August 2009.

At least 30 reports of childhood cancer were received by the FDA involving the use of TNF blockers. Other medications indicated in this early communication were Humira and Enbrel.

According to Johnson & Johnson, among children taking Remicade, most of the reports of juvenile cancer involved those treated for the bowel disorder Crohn’s disease. Approximately half of the cancers seen in all children and young adults taking TNF blockers were lymphomas, including both Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which is a cancer of cells in the immune system. Lymphoma is not a recognized complication of JIA (Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis) or of Crohn’s disease. Other cancers reported included leukemia, melanoma and solid organ cancers.

REMICADE FUNGAL INFECTIONS: A number of users who were receiving TNF blockers, such as Remicade, have experienced fungal infections, such as histoplasmosis, blastomycosis and cocciioidmycosis. In several of these cases the infection resulted in death.

In September 2008, the FDA issued an alert to healthcare providers to provide new information about the risk of Remicade fungal infections. At that time the agency also indicated that new information will be added to the Remicade black box warning to ensure that doctors and consumers are aware of the risk, especially for those who live in or visit areas where fungus is prevalent.

Unfortunately, many cases of fungal infections from Remicade go undiagnosed by doctors, since the symptoms are similar to the flu. Symptoms could include cough, fever, fatigue, loss of weight, sweating and shortness of breath.


233 Comments


Deb
I am 48 years old, I started remicade infusions in July 09′ to control ulcerative colitis symptoms. Remicade did heal my colon, but since October I have been dealing with very painful stiff joints & muscles. Stiff neck, sore throat/trouble swallowing, sometimes low grade fever and sharp pain in elbows, wrists and ankles upper arms. I have been told that it possible “remicade induced Lupus”.Many days I need help getting dressed and performing simple tasks. I have stopped treatments with remicade (not had an infusiion since Dec. 21st.) However, I am having no relief from these symptoms and am worried they will not subside. Has anyone else had relief from these symptom when remicade was stopped?

Cassandra
I want to thank every one who has posted on this site. I have a 11 year old daughter, and the Dr is really pushing the remicade treatment on her. They went so far as showing us the comfortable room with the big screen tv’s but I was very unconfortable with the lak of information they was unable to provide.But I have decided not to give her Remicade but the question is what is next is there any other mediation I can inquiry about?

Jamey
hello my name is Jamey and im a 24 year old male living in Central Texas and am living with Crohn’s Disease. Ive been dealing with it all my life and was finally diagnosed back in 2000. ive been on everything from prednisone and pentasa, asacol, even prevacid amongst others. i was most recently put on diclyclomine and azathioprine and had a severe reaction to one of them and ended up in the hospital for 5 days. Needless to say nothing thus far has worked like it should. Now my only option seems to be Remicade and i’ve been doing a lot of research and am reading a lot of horror stories that have me really scared about my future… can anyone help with advise or prior experiences (hopefully positive) alternative treatments, anything really…please. God Bless and Thank you

Barb
2 wks. ago I had a giant cell tumor taken off the tendon sheath of my finger, does anyone know if this could have caused by the remicade I’ve been on for a year for psorias and psoriatic arthritis?

Ron
My wife was on arthritis pills for years and then started Remicade infusions for Ankylosing Spondylitis, for approximately 11 months. Had an xray and TB test before treatment. Remicade stopped helping and was switched to Embrel for 2 months, never worked and developed more swelling and arthritris pain.. During last two months on Embrel, developed cough. Doctor wanted an xray. Was diagnosed with 4 cm (2′) cancer tumor in right lung in Nov.,13 months after starting treatment. She turned 50 in Jan 2009. Unfortunately, passed away in Oct. 09. Light smoker. Coincidence ?

Michelle
I am 44 years old I have suffered from Crohn’s Colitis for 3 years, I tried everything from wheat free and gluten free diet, accupuncture, bio feed back, vitamins/probiotics, you name it, every alternative medicine out there I ended up hospitalized at 88 lbs 5 blood transfusions, so many sores in my mouth I couldn’t eat, I was on medical food (TPN) for bowel rest for 3 months nothing worked, I started Remicade and Immurane after many years of trying to stay drug free, I got my life back, I am now 125 lbs, I work out again, I have my old life back, and I never get sick, I have 3 kids who have everything from the colds to N1H1 and I have never gotten any of it, I have no side effects from the drugs, I just got back from a trip to NY City with my children their band played a concert, something I would have never been able to do If I did not take these drugs, I understand the fear and the side effects, but quality of life has lead me to over come me fear and I am fine so far, 1 year on meds.

Margie
I am horrified reading these comments, however, have experienced some of the same. Remicade was started on me when I spent 10 days in the hospital in March2009, because of a blockage, Crohn’s is my “thing”!. The third treatment in June, I literally thought I was going to die. Fever, joints hurt so bad, could not get out of bed, couldn’t lift head much less body. My doctor basically called me a wimp and told me although treatments might seem rough, it was good for me. I had done much research and had so much trouble from other drugs…gave it a try…Dr. has never once done follow up test that are supposed to be done. I refused anymore treatments, but my family pressured me into one more try this month. Again, immediate problems. I will not do again and I am glad to have found this page to have I guess “prove” of the syptoms and reactions I had, instead of being made out to be a baby about it. I would be glad to join any fight against this drug. I too, believe that diet….keeping inflammation at minimum is the best that can be done for crohn’s . Mot of the drugs lead to way to many complications(steroids!)

Magda
If you live in the Southwest or areas known to have high incident rates of valley fever (Fungal Infection) – PLEASE BE AWARE IF YOU ARE ON REMICADE!!! After infusions, you should never go outdoors during windy conditions. I’m not sure if masks help or not, but here is my story. I contracted valley fever while on Remicade. My GP misdiagnosed me for several weeks before finally giving me a chest xray and discovered large fungal nodules in my lungs. These nodules do not go away and must be treated with fluconazole on a daily basis for the balance of my life. Fluconazole simply causes the fungus to remain dormant. If I ever stop treatment, the nodules will begin to grow again and eventually migrate to the brain and will lead to death. This happened two years ago and I am absolutely livid. I simply do not understand why the system failed me so badly. The risk was known. Remicade virtually eliminates your immune system which leaves you utterly exposed to a host of opportune diseases. I am outraged that I was not ever given any warnings about this. I live in Arizona where valley fever is prevalent. My doctors and Rheumatologist KNEW I WAS ON Remicade and NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THESE RISKS. And when I first contracted symptoms, they were clueless as to a possible valley fever diagnosis. My life has been unalterably changed over something that could and should have been monitored more rigorously. -Sick and pissed off in Tucson

tmano
I took remicade for 4 months and developed a pneumonia that was not diagnosed for months. Ended up on a ventitaltor in the hospital for next 3 months and almost died. I am suing them. They had knowledge of these problems but didnt warn. Now I am disabled and on oxygen for the rest of my shortened life and may eventually need a lung transplant. The problem is that most people probably die with remicade induced lung disease without ever being diagnosed because doctors short of the mayo clinic don’t know to look for it. They think its an infection (viral fungal or bacteria induced) so they try to treat with antibiotics. But remicade also causes autoimmune disorders that will only respond to steroids (the opposite of antibiotics). So nobody really knows how many people they killed because they die without diagnosis. A jury in Texas awarded 19 million against Centocor in a remicade suit. When you consult a lawyer tell them about that case and it may help to get them to sue Centocor for you.

jack
My wife was 45 yrs old when she started taking Remicade, her 5th infusion her fever spiked and they stopped the drug while the Dr. contacted the manufacturer, the manufacturer said to give her high doses of Prednisone day before and day of infusions. this seemed to help, she has always been extremely active, she had a good job as an engineer repairing equipment and such. she has been in a wheelchair for the last year and can not stand or walk. Her 7th infusion she ended in the hospital for 19 days while they ran every imaginable test. they concluded she has demylenating of her nerves and may never recover. She started taking Remicade for her severe arthritus, but the results are so much worse!

Lori
I am 46 and was on remicade for over a year, I was diagnosed with Inflammatory Spondyloarthropathy in 2007 prior to having 1st stage liver disease(NASH) diagnosed in 2003. the Dr told me she does not do diet or alternative medicine. Just Medication to help with the pain. I started with Humara, then embrel and last but not least remicade. What i have come to learn the hard way was with the liver disease or lack of liver function it changes the way the remicade affects your metal status and lots of abdominal pain . I eventually lost my job because i forgot to change a FMLA request to personal time. Needless to say i lost my job. So when my insurance had to change i had a very large deductible to meet, so needless to say i could not afford my remicade any longer. but the signs were all there; depression,fatigue, forgetting to pay bills, losing car insurance for 3months and not knowing until after the fact, getting lost or confused easily. But now that detox has set in i am not myself but my head is becoming clearer and the abdomen pain has stopped . I was on 600mg every 6wks and on my FMLA papers the Dr said this would be for a life time. I count my blessings i lost my job, but now i know remicade was not really helping, i did find out i was allergic to wheat, i stop eating wheat and the swelling and some of the pain subsided. I went to a lady that does Bio-feed Back. She was the one who told me i was allergic to wheat and it is a inexpensive and painless exam compared to all the other Dr’s I see and they just know about medications Keep the faith, you do have a gate keeper. Trust your family and friends that know you the best. If they tell you something is wrong with you, listen and note the changes from beginning to end. Talk about the good the bad and the ugly

Brenda
I just want to say how sorry I feel for those of you suffering at the hands of this so called “miracle” drug. I was scheduled to start Remicade due to sever Crohn’s disease, all other drugs seemed to make things worse, so reluctantly I agreed with my then GI doc to start treatment. I spent about a week researching as much as I could right up until the day of my first infusion. A black box warning had been put out on the drug just within days of my research which helped me to make up my mind. I talked to other patient that were on it and all said how wonderful it was, and how they felt they had gotten their lives back. I still decided not to go through with it. I decided to take my diet serious and do whatever I needed to do to lower the stress in my life. I still have Crohn’s but I haven’t been back to a hospital in over two years (before this I was in ER at least once a month with blockages). Everytime I go for my annual colonoscopy my doc says I should go on Remicade. I say NO! Now, one of the lady patients that told me how wonderful the drug was, is having infusions ever week. She can no longer go to her job on a military base and works from home. I think the developers of this drug became very rich, along with J&J. I feel blessed not to have given in to the pain. I think we should look very closely at these new drugs before we EVER become guinea pigs. People change your eating habits, exercise as best you can, and get pain meds to manage your pain, but don’t risk trying this drug. I am convinced that it is toxic and causes worse damage than the disease itself.

jed
i was on remicade for crohns disease, this drug was not created for this disease, it was heavily marketed to me and gave me a false feeling i was getting treatment, instead i lost so much weight i looked like a skeleton and lost my job do to time spent recieving these infusions and sicknesses due to my weakened immune system, now i suffer from severe backpain but my crohns started to get better long after i stopped when i upped my asacol dosage and added liadl isn’t it suspicious that this drug is suppossed to take so many treatments to work? in my experience flare ups always heal with time

Julie
Trying to find someone to stand by all people who suffered from this nasty drug.

Mary
I am in severe pain I have lupus from remicade they said it’s reversable i/m very short winded but no one has checked that yet on my lungs.Ther is not a place wher i don’t have red spots that are burning like fire. I went to Little Rock 3 times last week for infusions of steroids that have albut put me in the bed. my skin is peeling face swollen red . I am so fatigued i can barely go up steps. This is costing me lots of money. My mouth is peeling & burnig I can hardley eat. I was taking this for Psoriac arthritus & psorias but this is worst . My Dr says this is reversible but what am i gonna do just keep sufering until it kills me or goes away. I’m not a wimp I have endured a lot of pain but this is bad I hope now one has to go thru this.

Mike
I’m 44 years old and I have Crohn’s disease. I was diagnosed back in 2002, and for one year tried every standard Crohn’s medication (Asacol, 6MP, Prednisone) and nothing worked. In 2003 I started Remicade, and the pain stopped almost immediately. I took Remicade from 2003 to November 2009. On 11/2/09 I had an intestinal blockage due to the Crohn’s and had a CT-scan done. They found malignant tumors on each of my kidneys approximately 3cm diameter. In 2002 I had a CT scan to initially diagnose my Crohn’s and the scan specifically said “no masses”. My family has no history of cancer. The growth rate of Renal Cell Carcinoma is 3mm to 6mm per year. I was on Remicade for 6 years, and the tumors were 30mm each on 11/2/09 (growth rate of 5mm per year). Is this just a coincedence or did Remicade contribute?

April
There is a friend of my daughters who is 17 and has been on remicade for about 1 year. She says it is a miracle drug. She is trying to inform people about her journey. See the article listed at this site. It gives her email address. http://www.komw.net/artman/publish/article_5006.shtml

angie
I am looking to talk to a parent that has/had a child on Remicade for Crohns. My daughter is 7. She is not responing to 6-mp and Pentasa the way the doctor would like. I am scared to death.

Jodi
I started using Remicade April of 2008 for Crohn’s disease, and stopped Oct 2008. From the first infusion, I started getting severe joint pain. It started in my lower legs and feet. With each infusion the pain got worse and would move up my body. It got to the point I couldn’t stand or sit, lift my arms, or turn my head in any direction. I had numbness on the left side of my body, with horrible headaches and stuttering. I went to a Reumy, and he said I had SLE and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome both caused by Remicade. I am left with joint pain, tendonitis in my left wrist, dislocated jaw, four protruding disc in my neck, tumor on my left shoulder, my head gets stuck if I turn my head to far to the left, and miscolored pigmentation on my left arm. I would honestly have to say that the pain I experienced with remicade was worse then the original pain of crohns. Wasn’t worth it!

christina
I was put on remicaide for chron’s desease.I took infusions for over two years.I kept a upper respertory infection alot.The last four months or so my bones and joints would give me severe pain two weeks before a treatment,I also got nodules on my elbows and possibly my lung.I have stopped remicaide,but now we are trying to treat the arthritis which is more of a problem than the chron’s was.I tried methotrexate and humira briefly,another bad infection in my lungs,so for now no more of those kinds of drugs.I will say in the beginning Remicaide was like a miracle for me,but I deal with the after-effects also.I would urge people with copd not to use these types of drugs,we are already at risk for infection anyway.

Julie
My mother has suffered quite a few nasty medical problems which seem to be all linked back to Remicade treatment she had for arthirits. My family has been thru so much with her however she still is in remission from the lung cancer (Tumor) she had on her right lung which they removed 1/3 of her lung. That was the second cancer in one year, I’ve been researching Remicade ever since. I don’t want another family to have to go thru what she has gone thru. Does anyone out there know of a class action that was filed or an attorney that represent all these comments that can help all the people that are suffering or have lost a loved one.

Jenna
My mother (aged 45) was recently on remicade infusions for Ankylosing Spondylitis, a form of Rheumatoid Arthritis. After approximately six months after beginning treatment, she was hospitalised and ended up with severe liver failure, resulting in a very lucky transplant. Without the transplant, she would have died an hour later. She was in hospital for over two months, and is still recovering. The liver failure was extremely acute – her liver completely shut down in two weeks, and other organs began to follow. Doing research, I have found many other similar cases, though not all were so lucky. The entire experience has profoundly affected my Mother, and the rest of the family, and will continue to do so for some time. Luckily, Australia has a public health system, otherwise we would be out of pocket at least $50,000. Be careful on this drug, and make sure you have a competent doctor and all the information.

Robert
Develpoed leukocytoclasic vasculiis from remicade in legs and gasroinestinal ract

nicole
Jill, my mother went thru the same thing. A fungal infection that could never be cured. She went into the hospital In January 08 and passed March 26, 2008. I warn eveyone. This was a horrible way to have to watch your Mother die, wasting away and hurting. Johnson and Johnson contacted us for information. I denied their request.

Jill
My mother had remicade treatments for arthritis. In Dec.2008 she was hospitalized. My mother was diagnosed with Nocardia a fungal disease of the lungs. My mother slowly wasted away, ended up on a ventalator and passed away on April 5,2009 without ever leaving the hospital or ICU. Her doctors stated that they are seeing more unusual cases like my mothers due to Remicade. It was a horrible was to die and no one should have to go through that. So, if you are taking other meds. for arthritis and Remicade I suggest you ask your Doctor if it is safe. But because my mother was 81 no lawyer will even discuss a lawsuit against the maker of Remicade.

Angela
My husband was on Remicade in 2005 & 2006 8 months total. He has severe neurological issues which has caused perminent nerve damange of the milar sheething on his nerves and gastro parisis of which he now needs a gastric pacemaker.

john
I had remicade infusions for over a year and developed a nodule in my left lung. The pet scan came back positive and I was rushed into surgery to remove the nodule, the pathlogoly report indicated blastomycosis and I remained in the hospital for a couple of days. I had a lung scan done before i started the remicade due to my doctor wanting to rule out phumonia. Scary stuff indeed- it does help the crohns despite the risks….godbless.

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MADALINE
my husband took remicade for a little over two years. in may 2007he went into dehydration, all vital organs went out of normal limits. he got a severe lung infection and was on 5 differant antibiotics. they never found a cause. His white count stayed over l6 and went up to 35 in december and was again hospitalized for a severe infection in a hip (artificial). again a bug could not be cultured. i believe remicade caused this problem. he has been in eight medical ficilties in a year and a half. we stopped remicade in may of 2007 and will not go back. beware.

Black Box Warning for Remicade, Enbrel and Other Rheumatoid Arthritis Drugs about Risk of Fungal Infection : AboutLawsuits.com
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