› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
Very low doses of inhaled carbon monoxide has been shown to reverse a serious digestive condition in diabetic mice, a finding that could give hope to millions of sufferers of diabetic gastroparesis. The findings are based on a study conducted by researchers with the Mayo Clinic and presented at last year’s Digestive Disease Week gathering.
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has found in favor with a lower court that patients may sue generic drug makers under state law for failing to provide adequate warnings about potential side effects with their drugs. The ruling extends a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court ruling governing makers of name-brand drugs. The issue of whether generic drug companies should be held liable for not adequately warning consumers has divided several district courts, which can increase the odds of a Supreme Court review in the future, according to U.S. Circuit Judge Patrick Higginbotham.
The Gastroparesis Awareness Campaign Organization has released a video to help raise awareness of the seriousness of the condition in which the stomach takes too long to digest food. The video, called The Faces of Gastroparesis 2009, can be seen on YouTube, and here:
People of all ages, shapes and sizes suffer from gastroparesis. The National Institutes of Health estimates as many as 10 million people are living with gastroparesis. Because of the lack of medical education and improper diagnosis, many more may be suffering in silence. Symptoms include abdominal cramps, nausea and vomiting and can result in dehydration, electrolyte imbalances and malnutrition.
Treatments include medication, such as Reglan (metoclopramide), and surgery. Those with gastroparesis suffered yet another blow this year when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a black box warning on Reglan after numerous cases of a serious movement disorder known as Tardive Dyskinesia were reported in patients who took Reglan. Long-term users were as much as 20 percent at risk of developing the condition.
Because treatments offer only temporary benefits to patients, activists groups such as the Gastroparesis Awareness Campaign Organization are working to raise awareness in hopes of finding better, safer treatments and, eventually, a cure.
Thirty-two-year-old Shimmi Munshi would get sick up to 50 times a day over a four-year period, but doctors were at a loss as to why. She was put on feeding tubes and medication, but the treatments did little to help her. She became sicker and weaker. It wasn’t until the young woman scoured the Internet that she some answers. She immediately diagnosed herself with gastroparesis, or paralysis of the stomach. And found a treatment that would help her live a normal life.
A new medical center specializing in gastrointestinal disorders is opening in El Paso, Texas, offering hope to patients throughout the country who suffer from debilitating symptoms. The new center is a collaborative effort between the University Medical Center of El Paso and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. Called the Center for Gastrointestinal Motility and Functional Bowel Disorders, the center will diagnose and treat people who have problems digesting food.
UPDATE: It has been brought to our attention that the young woman featured in this post may have been misdiagnosed. There is some controversy about whether she was suffering from dystonia, her illness was psychogenic, or it was a hoax. We are currently researching the matter and will provide an updated post as soon as possible. A YouTube video originally posted with this story is no longer available.
Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder that can be disabling. Those who suffer from the condition experience muscle contractions that cause twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures. The causes are not completely known or understood, but it is believed to be either inherited or caused by factors such as birth-related or physical trauma, infection, poisoning (such as lead poisoning), or reaction to drugs (such as Reglan, also known as metoclopramide, a common medication to treat heartburn, GERD and gastroparesis). For one athletic young woman, the cause was likely due to a seasonal flu shot.
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.
Patients who suffer from nausea and vomiting are often given medication to stop their symptoms. But many of those drugs carry serious side effects that have earned them black box warnings from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A black box warning indicates that use of the drug carries a significant risk of serious or life-threatening adverse effects.
Metoclopramide, known in the U.S. by the brand names Reglan and Metozolv, is a commonly prescribed medication used in the treatment of serious gastrointestional disorders, such as GERD and gastroparesis. Earlier this year, a study suggested that the medication may also help women suffering from morning sickness, in particular a severe form marked by serious vomiting called hyperemesis gravidarum. The study, which involved more than 80,000 births to Israeli women, found that women who took the medication while pregnant did not raise the risk of harming their unborn child.
Brittney Riley is the picture of health. At 27, the veterinary student looks fit and happy. Most people would never guess she is sick, but Brittney suffers from a chronic digestive disorder known as gastroparesis in which the stomach takes too long to digest food. She can no longer eat solid food; instead she consumes baby food, soy yogurt, watered-down Cream of Wheat, and cans of Ensure. Brittney is one of hundreds of Americans who are hoping to raise awareness this week of crippling disorders that others may not readily see or understand, as part of Invisible Illness Awareness Week.
