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Reglan:
Side Effects And Problems Of Reglan

Reglan Drug:
Reglan - FDA Issues A Black Box Warning

Reglan Lawsuits:
Reglan Lawsuits And Injury Claims

Patient Education

Metoclopramide (Reglan) Warning

Do you suffer from severe nausea, GERD (gastroesophogeal reflux disease), diabetic gastroparesis or experience delayed gastric emptying? If so, your doctor may prescribe the anti-nausea, anti-emetic drug, metoclopramide, trade name Reglan, when other drug therapies have failed to provide the relief you need from these unpleasant, sometimes dangerous maladies.

BE ALERT! The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a ‘black box warning’ to the makers of Reglan and its generics, as of February 29, 2009. You should know that Reglan and other drugs that contain metoclopramide are approved for only four to twelve weeks. When taken for longer periods of time or at higher than prescribed doses, Reglan may cause severe and often permanent side effects. Perhaps the most common and devastating of these metoclopramide effects is tardive dyskinesia, which exhibits as repetitive, involuntary spasms of the face and extremities. Specific symptoms include:

• Grimacing, pursing, smacking and puckering of the lips
• Tongue protrusions
• Rapid eye movements and uncontrollable blinking
• Involuntary arm and leg movements
• Impaired finger movement

Other serious side effects from prolonged use of metoclopramide-containing drugs include: dystonia (a neurological movement disorder in which sustained muscle contractions cause twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures), depression, raised prolactin levels, epilepsy, hypertension, persistent vomiting, Parkinson’s disease, renal insufficiency or fatigue. Metoclopramide is counterindicated during the first trimester of pregnancy and should only be used in lactating patients in extreme cases.

FDA

The FDA approved Reglan, a dopamine receptor antagonist that possess central antiemetic (vomiting) and peripheral gastrointestinal motility effects, in 1985, for short-term use by patients suffering from severe nausea or vomiting when all other treatment methods have been attempted and have failed. However, statistics show that about 30% of prescriptions written for Reglan are for more than the approved twelve weeks, with many written for more than one year! There can be many reasons for this including pressure from the patient to continue the medication if it affords relief not found from other medicines, physician lack of knowledge of dosing protocols, as well as extreme pressure from the manufacturers of metoclopramide drugs to prescribe their drugs.

Have You Taken Reglan?

Although it has been known for years that prolonged use of metoclopramide drugs can cause tardive dyskinesia and other dangerous side effects with prolonged use, manufacturers indicated that the rate of this syndrome was only about 0.2% when studies show that the actual rate may be 100 times higher!

If you or a loved one has taken Reglan and contracted any of these devastating symptoms, please contact our experienced and compassionate personal injury attorneys by filling out the form on this page. We are here to see that you receive the monetary compensation that you deserve!