Women suffering from movement disorder sues Reglan maker Wyeth
Elizabeth Conte was prescribed Reglan, a brand-name of metoclopramide used to treat gastrointestinal conditions such as heartburn, GERD and gastroparesis. For four years she took the medication, unaware that she was slowly developing a debilitating and incurable movement disorder known as Tardive Dyskinesia. What she soon found out is that her involuntary head jerks and facial twitches were caused by long-term use of metoclopramide.
More and more cases of consumers taking metoclopramide and subsequently developing Tardive Dyskinesia were reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and by early 2009, the agency had ordered a black box warning be placed on the medication. New warnings and precautions were written into the drug’s packaging that included an up to 20 percent risk of patients developing Tardive Dyskinesia during long-term use of the medication.