Zelnorm News - Zelnorm Lawyer

Have you or a member of your family developed a serious medical condition such as:

• Heart Attack

• Stroke

• Severe Heart Chest Pain

while being treated with Zelnorm or shortly thereafter? If so, please contact us for more information.

For a free case evaluation, please call 1-800-381-7992 or email us below.

The FDA has issued a public health advisory to inform patients and health care professionals that the sponsor of Zelnorm (tegaserod maleate), Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, has agreed to stop selling Zelnorm. Zelnorm is being taken off the market because a new safety analysis has found a higher chance of heart attack, stroke, and worsening heart chest pain that can become a heart attack in patients treated with Zelnorm compared to those treated with a sugar pill they thought was Zelnorm.

• Patients being treated with Zelnorm should contact their physician to discuss alternative treatments for their condition.

• Patients who are taking Zelnorm should seek emergency medical care right away if they experience severe chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, sudden onset of weakness or difficulty walking or talking or other symptoms of a heart attack or stroke.

• Physicians who prescribe Zelnorm should work with their patients and transition them to other therapies as appropriate to their symptoms and need.

Zelnorm is a prescription medication approved for short term treatment of women with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation and for patients younger than 65 years with chronic constipation.

In late February and early March 2007, Novartis Pharmaceuticals gave FDA the results of new analyses of 29 clinical studies of Zelnorm for treatment of a variety of gastrointestinal tract conditions; the data from all the studies were combined to assess the chance of side effects on the heart and blood vessels. In each study, patients were assigned at random to either Zelnorm or a sugar pill they thought was Zelnorm. These 29 studies included 11,614 patients treated with Zelnorm and 7,031 treated with a sugar pill. The average age of patients in these studies was 43 years and most patients—88%--were women.

The number of patients who suffered a heart attack, stroke or severe heart chest pain that can turn into a heart attack was small. However, patients treated with Zelnorm had a higher chance of having any of these serious and life-threatening side effects than did those who were treated with a sugar pill. Thirteen patients treated with Zelnorm (0.1%) had serious and life-threatening cardiovascular side effects; among these, four patients had a heart attack (one died), six had a type of severe heart chest pain which can quickly turn into a heart attack, and three had a stroke. Among the patients taking the sugar pill, only one (or 0.01%) had symptoms suggesting the beginning of a stroke that went away without complication.

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Please be advised we do not and cannot represent you until we have had an opportunity to evaluate your potential claim. After we have reviewed your medical records to determine whether you appear to have Zelnorm-related injury or injuries, we will send you a contract for representation. Until such time as we have a signed contract of representation from you, we do not represent you in any claim related to your use of Zelnorm. I have read and understand this paragraph Please be advised that your lawsuit is subject to a strict statute of limitations. If you do not file a lawsuit prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations, you will be forever barred from pursuing any claim related to your use of Zelnorm. Your statute of limitations may have already expired and, if it has not, each day that passes brings you closer to the expiration of the statute of limitations. Thus, you need to act immediately in fillling out the above questionnaire. We do not represent you until we have a received a fully executed fee agreement. I have read and understand this paragraph

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