BREAKING NEWS: ZELNORM

April 15, 2007 In late February and early March 2007, Novartis Pharmaceuticals gave FDA the results of new analyses of 29 clinical studies of Zelnorm for treatment of a variety of gastrointestinal tract conditions; the data from all the studies were combined to assess the chance of side effects on the heart and blood vessels.  In each study, patients were assigned at random to either Zelnorm or a sugar pill they thought was Zelnorm.  These 29 studies included 11,614 patients treated with Zelnorm and 7,031 treated with a sugar pill.  The average age of patients in these studies was 43 years and most patients-88%--were women. 

The number of patients who suffered a heart attack, stroke or severe heart chest pain that can turn into a heart attack was small.  However, patients treated with Zelnorm had a higher chance of having any of these serious and life-threatening side effects than did those who were treated with a sugar pill.  Thirteen patients treated with Zelnorm (0.1%) had serious and life-threatening cardiovascular side effects; among these, four patients had a heart attack (one died), six had a type of severe heart chest pain which can quickly turn into a heart attack, and three had a stroke.  Among the patients taking the sugar pill, only one (or 0.01%) had symptoms suggesting the beginning of a stroke that went away without complication.  Zelnorm has been removed from the market.

More information can be found here at Zelnormnews.com.

Van Robichaux
Robichaux Law Firm L.L.C.

van@robichauxlaw.com
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