Abbot Labs introduced Humira to the market in 2002, under the category of drugs that medical professionals refer to as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor. This kind of drugs kills the TNF cells and reduces the pain and inflammation related to the specific medical conditions. The FDA approved the product for the treating rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, anyklosing spondylitis, chrohn’s disease, plaque psoriasis, and chronic psoriasis, conditions which affect young adults and children.
It was soon discovered, however, that Humira creates some unintended side-effects for the patient. These became apparent as the drug started attacking other healthy cells in the body, cells that have no relation to the medical condition being treated. Of course, it is important to note here that there is a considerable amount of risk whenever one is using TNF blockers like Humira. However, what is outrageous in the Humira case is that its manufacturer, Abbot Labs, deliberately chose not to disclose the information regarding the added risk that comes with the use of their product. As early as the clinical trial stage of Humira’s development, some consumers have already started complaining about a number of side effects that they have experienced while using the drug. There were some clinical trial patients who noted some vision problems they experienced as an effect of testing this new drug. Two of the clinical trial patients were actually diagnosed with the condition of optic neuritis. It results in pain and impaired vision due to the inflammation of the optic nerves.
Curiously enough, this kind of potential risk of complications was never relayed to the physicians nor was it ever made known to the consumers themselves. The condition optic neuritis is actually hard to diagnose and the damage done to the patients’ optic nerves would have been lessened, or even prevented, if only the physicians have been informed about Humira’s side effects. There were also signs of demylination complications in some of the patients during the early phase of development. It seems Humira is also targeting the myelin sheath, or the nerve covering that protects the nerve fibers in the brain and in the spinal cord. This has resulted in neurological impairments that can come in many forms such as vision loss, hearing loss, loss of sensation, headaches, seizures and muscle spasms, loss of coordination, and even paralysis. Interestingly enough, such side effects were never declared by Abbot Labs in Humira’s warning label. This means that the patients were unable to anticipate the possibility of such due to lack of information.
The amount of medical evidence accumulated against Humira has been on a steady rise. At the same time, the number of Humira lawsuits has started to pile up as well since the product’s launch in 2002. There are more and more Humira lawsuits being filed as more patients are exposed to the negative side effects created by the drug. In fact, many of the Humira lawsuits were filed by patients who suffered permanent vision loss as a result of using the said product.
