Even though Reglan now has a more severe black box warning imposed by the FDA, concerns remain for those patients who were already taking the defective drug before the warning was issued.
Reglan can cause severe and permanent health problems — problems that have been downplayed by the drug’s manufacturer. In fact, it is now believed that patients are twice as likely to suffer from permanent disorders from taking the drug than was expected. Since many of the patients currently on Reglan were told that the benefits outweighed the risks, they took it not realizing that the risks of patients developing tardive dyskinesia (TD) are actually higher than claimed. TD is a disorder that causes symptoms like grimacing, compulsive blinking, facial ticks and lip smacking. Currently, there is no known treatment for it. The worst part is that TD can last for years after you stop taking Reglan and for some people this situation is permanent.
Reglan is prescribed for gastrointestinal disorders such as diabetic gastroparesis and gastroesophageal reflux. Reglan is given to stop the symptoms that these disorders cause. Since it is well known now that Reglan causes a higher chance of getting TD when it is taken over a long period or when taken in higher dosages, the patients who suffer from the worst cases of gastrointestinal disorders end up being the most likely to get TD from taking Reglan.
The real risks of taking the drug Reglan have been out for some time now, and because of this time is running out for those patients that might want to pursue legal actions if they had actually contracted TD from the defective drug. When prescriptions are supposed to help you better your health but cause more problems in the end than what patients started out with, it is safe to call those drugs defective.
Many feel that the black box warning on Reglan came too late for those that were already taking the drug for other health problems but the time for filing lawsuits has almost run its course.