Prevacid and Prevacid 24 Hour Attorneys
Prevacid and Prevacid 24 Hours are part of a group of drugs known as Proton Pump Inhibitors or PPI’s which are used for a multitude of gastrointestinal issues, like severe heartburn. Prevacid was one of the first PPIs on the market to help with gastrointestinal issues and it is widely used by Americans today. However, the manufacturers of Prevacid and Prevacid 24 Hours have failed to inform doctors and the general public about how long patients should be taking the medication. This has led many patients across the United States to take Prevacid daily for longer than 3 months. Daily use of this PPI for months at a time has been found to be linked to adverse health effects such as kidney disease and stomach cancer.
Is Prevacid Safe?
Prevacid can be a helpful way to deal with gastrointestinal issues if it is used sparingly over a shorter period of time. Unfortunately, those details are not always adequately explained to doctors or to the public. Long term use of Prevacid has been linked to low magnesium levels as well as serious injuries like kidney damage and stomach cancer.
Prevacid Side Effects
Common Prevacid side effects include headache, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, all of which usually pass after a few days. If those symptoms continue then it’s imperative you talk to your doctor immediately.
Prevacid dangers include more serious side effects that could be an indicator of low magnesium levels in the body, kidney injuries, or stomach cancer. Call your doctor immediately if you experience any of the following side effects:
- dizziness
- weakness
- fatigue
- abnormal heartbeats
- jerking movements
- tremors
- seizures
- body spasms
- muscle aches
- voice box spasms
Kidney Injuries
Manufacturers of Prevacid and other PPIs have known for almost a decade that these drugs can cause kidney injuries, but even now, they do not adequately warn consumers about these risks. Studies by medical journals like JAMA Internal Medicine and CMAJ Open have covered this link in detail over the last few years. These journals highlighted the connection between PPIs and the risk of kidney injury even in patients who were healthy and had no history of health problems. They called on doctors and other medical researchers to do their due diligence with this information by monitoring patients using Prevacid and continuing to study the link between the drug and the disease.
Treating a kidney disease is not as easy as the injuries clearing up as soon as the PPI’s are concluded. They can last a lifetime and will likely worsen over time, especially if they are not treated by a professional.
Prevacid’s manufacturer has not taken any steps to warn the public of this link by putting a notice on their box. If you experienced a kidney injury while taking Prevacid, a kidney failure lawsuit could be a route to get the compensation you deserve for not being adequately warned about the possible dangers.
Stomach Cancer
Kidney injuries are more prevalent for health problems linked to PPIs, but stomach cancer is also a reported problem overuse of PPIs can cause. Researchers have found that Prevacid has a risk of increasing the likelihood of stomach cancer the longer the medication is used. Patients who were otherwise healthy and took proton pump inhibitors daily for more than a year were over 5 times more likely to develop stomach cancer than people who didn’t take PPIs.
If you’re asking the question, “is Prevacid safe?”, then it may be helpful to look into the correlation between Prevacid and stomach cancer. Researchers believe that out of all of the PPI’s currently on the market, Prevacid, after extended use, has the highest risk of developing stomach cancer.
Prevacid Lawsuit
If you or a loved one took Prevacid or Prevacid 24 Hours over the period of several months and developed a kidney injury or stomach cancer, you may be eligible for compensation. The attorneys at Parker Waichman LLP are available to answer your questions about a possible Prevacid class action lawsuit or a personal lawsuit against the Prevacid manufacturer. Right now, multiple lawsuits are in the court system and as more information comes out about the link between PPI’s and health issues, more lawsuits are expected to be brought up.
Talk To our Experienced Legal Team at Parker Waichman LLP
Your lawsuit deserves a caring and dedicated attorney who makes your case their priority. Our law firm has extensive experience in handling complicated product liability cases like this and we know how to make sure you get the help and compensation you deserve.
If you or a loved one experienced kidney injuries or stomach cancer after using Prevacid or Prevacid 24 Hour, contact us today for a free consultation by filling out our online form or call us at 1-800-YOURLAWYER (1-800-968-7529)