Overprescribed Arthritis Drug Linked To HIGHER RISK Of Autoimmune Disease

Via America’s Lawyer: Mike Papantonio talks about how drug companies have made billions of dollars marketing treatments for rheumatoid arthritis. Then he talks with Environment America’s John Rumpler, about how a federal judge approved a settlement for damages that came from DuPont's mercury contamination of the South River in Virginia. Then Mollye Barrows dives into the details of a class action lawsuit in California alleging that Disney is violating privacy protection laws by collecting children’s personal information from 42 of its apps.

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Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease affecting more than 1.3 million Americans and as much as one percent of the worldwide population. The specific cause of rheumatoid arthritis isn't known and there's no known cure for the disease. Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the most common autoimmune disorders and symptoms are triggered when a person's antibodies attack the synovial joint fluid and causes chronic inflammation.

ACTEMRA is an immunosuppressive medication used to treat the symptoms of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. The medication was first approved by the FDA in 2010. The drug's been marketed to doctors is not increasing the risk of heart failure, stroke, or lung disease, which competing drug makers admit rheumatoid arthritis medication usually does. The problem is that ACTEMRA absolutely does carry those risks and the manufacturer seriously misled the FDA and doctors in order to sell its drug. According to medical journalism organization, Stat, patients taking ACTEMRA are 50 percent more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke than patients using Enbrel or a competing drug.

In fact, Stat analyzed more than half a million reports of adverse events during treatment with rheumatoid arthritis drugs and found evidence that the risks of heart attacks, strokes, heart failure and other conditions were as high or even higher for some patients treated with ACTEMRA than they were over patients treating with competed drugs. In other words, they out and out lied to the FDA and medical doctors about ACTEMRA's dangers. The failure of ACTEMRA to carry a proper warning has lead doctors to overly prescribed this medication to individuals who are susceptible to heart and lung injuries and it's lead doctors to fail to monitor these patients more closely for potential harm.

Drug makers, Riche and Genentech, the manufacturers of ACTEMRA are now facing thousands of lawsuits. Plaintiffs attorneys claims that Roche and Genentech failed to properly test ACTEMRA before placing it on the market. They failed to warn doctors and patients that the medication was just as likely to cause serious injuries as competing drugs. They concealed evidence of the dangers of the drug from the government and the public. And the drug makers misrepresented the safety of the medication in its marketing material and publication. Pretty much a grand slam of fraud.

Patients have a right to be able to make informed choices about what medications they take. But when you have a drug company that hides the real dangers of their drugs from doctors, it becomes impossible for consumers to make an informed choice. And make no mistake, that's exactly what Big Pharma wants because the second people, the very time they start questioning the safety of a drug, the profits of those big drug companies begin to fall.

Joining me to talk about this as attorney and Dr. John Restaino. John, let's start by talking about the condition itself, rheumatoid arthritis. This disease affects millions of people across the planet, yet it still has a bit of mystery as to how and when it's going to strike somebody you might know. Is that kind of a quick take on it?

It is in fact. It does affect predominantly women and it's been estimated that approximately one to three percent of women in the United States are affected with this disease.