Zyprexa Tardive Dyskinesia Lawsuit
Nickie Koskinen
Tardive dyskinesia is a serious movement disorder causing sudden involuntary movements in the mouth, throat, and face. Tardive dyskinesia is usually caused by prolonged use of certain prescription drugs commonly used in the treatment of mental health disorders. Initial efforts to sue the manufacturers of the drugs that caused dyskinesia (e.g., Reglan) for product liability were largely unsuccessful. However, individuals who develop tardive dyskinesia from prescription psychotropic drugs can potentially sue the prescribing doctors for medical malpractice.
Tardive dyskinesia is a very serious facial and oral movement disorder resulting from neurologic damage. People with tardive dyskinesia are not able to control the movement of muscles in their face, mouth, neck and connected areas. The dyskinesia causes sudden, involuntary movements of these facial and oral muscles. These involuntary jerking and grimacing movement can be very severe and disabling, making it difficult to chew, drink and swallow. They also cause significant disfigurement.
Tardive dyskinesia is a not a disorder that just occurs on its own from natural events or injury. Rather, tardive dyskinesia is caused by prolonged use of certain prescription drugs that are used in the treatment of mental health conditions such as bi-polar and schizophrenia. These medications are known as antipsychotics or psychotropic drugs.
Use of antipsychotic medications for a long period of time causes neurologic abnormalities to develop in certain people. These abnormalities inside the brain are what trigger tardive dyskinesia. It usually takes a year or more of continued use of a medication to develop dyskinesia but the time frame varies depending on the person and the dosage. Anyone using psychotropic medication for a long time can develop tardive dyskinesia, but there are certain groups that are at significantly higher risk. Elder patients, females and people with a history of diabetes are more likely to develop tardive dyskinesia from mental health medications.
When the link between certain mental health drugs and tardive dyskinesia was first documented, it prompted the FDA to require a black-box warning label on certain drugs. This invariably led to a wave of product liability lawsuits against drug manufacturers. For the most part these product liability lawsuits against the drug manufacturers have not been successful and few law firms are taking these cases at this point.
If you have been diagnosed with tardive dyskinesia as a result of taking prescription drugs for mental health conditions, autism or other disorders, you may have a claim against your prescribing doctor for medical malpractice. Call the malpractice lawyers at Miller & Zois at 800-553-8082 or contact us online.
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Certain types of medicines that block dopamine receptors in the brain can cause tardive dyskinesia when used for several weeks or more. These medicines include antipsychotics, antidepressants and antiemetics. Tardive dyskinesia is a condition of involuntary movement of the face, torso and other body parts.
Typical antipsychotic drugs (also known as first-generation antipsychotic drugs) are prescribed to treat schizophrenia. Some of these drugs also treat nausea and vomiting, as well as other conditions. They include:
Atypical antipsychotic drugs (second-generation) are also used to treat schizophrenia and other conditions such as bipolar disorder. They are less likely to cause tardive dyskinesia than the first-generation antipsychotics, but the risk is still there. They include:
Some medications may change dopamine signaling in the brain, resulting in involuntary body movements. The movements of tardive dyskinesia can affect daily life and can sometimes be permanent as a result of medication. Symptoms may include:
The main differences between deutetrabenazine (Austedo, Austedo XR) and tetrabenazine (Xenazine) are in their chemical structure and pharmacokinetics. The addition of deuterium to the Austedo compound lengthens the duration of action and may reduce certain side effects compared to Xenazine. Overall, the drugs are fairly similar with regards to drug class, warnings, side effects and potential drug interactions, but differ in their FDA-approved uses. Continue reading
A specialty pharmacy will dispense your Ingrezza or Ingrezza Sprinkle and will mail it directly to you via overnight mail. Your doctor will send your prescription to the appropriate pharmacy, and they will contact you to verify the information. Continue reading
Olanzapine, sold under the brand name Zyprexa among others, is an atypical antipsychotic primarily used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.[10] For schizophrenia, it can be used for both new-onset disease and long-term maintenance.[10] It is taken by mouth or by injection into a muscle.[10]
Common side effects include weight gain, movement disorders, dizziness, feeling tired, constipation, and dry mouth.[10] Other side effects include low blood pressure with standing, allergic reactions, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, high blood sugar, seizures, and tardive dyskinesia.[10] In older people with dementia, its use increases the risk of death.[10] Use in the later part of pregnancy may result in a movement disorder in the baby for some time after birth.[10] Although how it works is not entirely clear, it blocks dopamine and serotonin receptors.[10]
Olanzapine was patented in 1991 and approved for medical use in the United States in 1996.[10][11] It is available as a generic medication.[10] In 2021, it was the 164th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 3 million prescriptions.[12][13] Eli Lilly also markets olanzapine in a fixed-dose combination with fluoxetine as olanzapine/fluoxetine (Symbyax).[14] It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.[15]
In the United Kingdom and Australia, it is approved for schizophrenia, moderate to severe manic episodes, alone, or in combination with lithium or valproate and the short-term treatment of acute manic episodes associated with Bipolar I Disorder.[19][20]
The first-line psychiatric treatment for schizophrenia is antipsychotic medication.[21] Olanzapine appears to be effective in reducing symptoms of schizophrenia, treating acute exacerbations, and treating early-onset schizophrenia.[22][23][24][25] The usefulness of maintenance therapy, however, is difficult to determine, as more than half of people in trials quit before the 6-week completion date.[26] Treatment with olanzapine (like clozapine) may result in increased weight gain and increased glucose and cholesterol levels when compared to most other second-generation antipsychotic drugs used to treat schizophrenia.[23][27]
Olanzapine is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence as a first-line therapy for the treatment of acute mania in bipolar disorder.[28] Other recommended first-line treatments are aripiprazole, haloperidol, quetiapine, and risperidone.[29] It is recommended in combination with fluoxetine as a first-line therapy for acute bipolar depression, and as a second-line treatment by itself for the maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder.[28]
The Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments recommends olanzapine as a first-line maintenance treatment in bipolar disorder and the combination of olanzapine with fluoxetine as second-line treatment for bipolar depression.[30]
A review on the efficacy of olanzapine as maintenance therapy in people with bipolar disorder was published by in 2006.[31] A 2014 meta-analysis concluded that olanzapine with fluoxetine was the most effective among nine treatments for bipolar depression included in the analysis.[32]
Olanzapine is associated with the highest placental exposure of any atypical antipsychotic.[33] Despite this, the available evidence suggests it is safe during pregnancy, although the evidence is insufficiently strong to say anything with a high degree of confidence.[33] Olanzapine is associated with weight gain, which according to recent studies, may put olanzapine-treated patients' offspring at a heightened risk for neural tube defects (e.g. spina bifida).[34][35] Breastfeeding in women taking olanzapine is advised against because olanzapine is secreted in breast milk, with one study finding that the exposure to the infant is about 1.8% that of the mother.[8]
Citing an increased risk of stroke, in 2004, the Committee on the Safety of Medicines in the UK issued a warning that olanzapine and risperidone, both atypical antipsychotic medications, should not be given to elderly patients with dementia. In the U.S., olanzapine comes with a black box warning for increased risk of death in elderly patients. It is not approved for use in patients with dementia-related psychosis.[36] A BBC investigation in June 2008 found that this advice was being widely ignored by British doctors.[37] Evidence suggested that the elderly are more likely to experience weight gain on olanzapine compared to aripiprazole and risperidone.[38]
The principal side effect of olanzapine is weight gain, which may be profound in some cases and/or associated with derangement in blood-lipid and blood-sugar profiles (see section metabolic effects). A 2013 meta-analysis of the efficacy and tolerance of 15 antipsychotic drugs (APDs) found that it had the highest propensity for causing weight gain out of the 15 APDs compared with an SMD of 0.74.[22] Extrapyramidal side effects, although potentially serious, are infrequent to rare from olanzapine,[39] but may include tremors and muscle rigidity.
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