As many as seven million Americans suffer psoriasis, a condition causing inflammation and red scaly patches on the skin, as well as psoriatic plaques on the knees and elbows. An autoimmune disease, Psoriasis can be treated, but it can’t be cured.

Unfortunately, one such treatment may be worse than psoriasis itself. That treatment is the medication called Raptiva, an injectable drug produced by California-based biotechnology giant Genentech. The Food and Drug Administration has just issued an advisory on Raptiva after learning that three psoriasis patients using Raptiva died from neurological infections.

Already, European health authorities are clamping down on Raptiva. The European Medicines Agency is urging that no new Raptiva prescriptions be issued, and it’s warning patients who already take the drug to consult their physician, who should be wary of any neurological disorders.

Raptiva may lead to health problems by virtue of the fact that it suppresses infection-fighting T-cells in patients’ immunity systems in order to break the cycle of psoriasis and slow or halt inflammation of the skin caused by T-cells.

But reducing immunity means such patients may be exposed to even worse disorders, particularly PML, or progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, a life-threatening neurological infection. An estimated 80 per cent of patients who suffer PML die within six months, and survivors face severe neurological disability.

The public has a right to safe drugs, but all drugs aren’t safe, as Americans see repeatedly. In this case, Raptiva’s benefits clearly outweigh its risks, as the European Medicines Association has declared. Let’s hope the FDA follows hard on its heels with an even stronger advisory or warning about the potentially lethal effects on unsuspecting psoriasis patients taking Raptiva, a drug the FDA itself approved in 2003.

If you or a loved one has taken Raptiva and are concerned about possible adverse effects, see a physician immediately. Then consider alerting a defective drug lawyer with Jim S. Adler & Associates for help in the legal realm. When a defective drug causes a catastrophic illness or death, victims or sufferers have every right to protect themselves financially via a defective drug lawsuit or, in this case, a Raptiva lawsuit.

Call toll-free to 1-800-505-1414 today, or submit the online free case review form on this page, and fight back against a defective drug with a pharmaceutical injury lawyer from the firm of Jim “the Hammer” Adler.

Share on Facebook