Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Time is running out for people who suspect they have experienced serious side effects from the heartburn drug Reglan (metoclopramide) to file a lawsuit seeking compensation for damages. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a black box warning on the drug on February 26, 2009. Most states have a two-year statute of limitations on personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, which in the case of Reglan would begin when the black box warning was issued. The statute of limitations in other states ranges from one to six years.

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Things were bad enough for Melissa.* She suffers from a gastrointestinal disorder that has compromised her lifestyle. But nothing prepared her for the problems she would have from the medication used to treat her condition. “I was just diagnosed with essential tremors from Reglan (metoclopramide),” she posted on the Inspire community billboard. “Great … another thing to deal with.”

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Researchers in Sacramento, Calif., are looking for people who still experience troublesome symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) even while taking heartburn medication, to participate in a study to evaluate an investigational heartburn treatment.

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A new medication may soon be available for patients who suffer from advanced gastroparesis, or delayed emptying of the stomach contents. Tranzyme Pharma is presenting data on its experimental drug ulimorelin later this month at the 2010 Joint International Meeting in Neurogastroenterology and Motility in Boston, Mass.

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All babies spit up on occasion. It usually occurs because the sphincter at the top of the stomach is often loose, causing babies to spit milk out of their mouths or noses. In otherwise healthy babies who are growing well, the contents of this spit up is mostly milk and parents shouldn’t worry. But for some babies, the spit up contains stomach acid, which can make the lining of the baby’s esophagus tender, red and swollen. This reflux of acid can also be inhaled into the lungs, irritating the sensitive linings. These babies may respond to the bottle or breast by arching their backs in pain. They may not gain weight or might cry from the discomfort. Some can develop a chronic cough, wheeze, have a hoarse voice, or even develop pneumonia. Some may stop breathing, a condition known as apnea, to protect their lungs from inhaled acid.

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Diabetics who suffer from nausea, vomiting, bloating, or abdominal discomfort after eating may be eligible to participate in a study for an investigational medication to reduce the symptoms associated with delayed stomach emptying, also known as gastroparesis, a condition many diabetics experience.

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Wendy from Oklahoma sought advice from fellow gastroparesis sufferers on Inspire.com’s group forum after her doctor recommended she take Reglan (metoclopramide) to treat symptoms of her condition. Gastropareses causes pain and nausea from slow emptying of the stomach contents. Wendy was concerned, she said, because “I read (Reglan) was the leading prescription cause for tardive dyskinesia,” a debilitating involuntary movement disorder similar to Parkinson’s.

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Two more lawsuits have been filed in federal court in New Orleans against the manufacturers of an acid reflux medication that allegedly causes a debilitating involuntary movement disorder known as tardive dyskinesia. Ellen Austin filed a suit against Actavis, Actavis Elizabeth and Watson Pharmaceuticals. Leslie Keeper filed suit against Qualitest Pharmaceuticals. Both lawsuits claim the drug Reglan, also known as the generic metoclopramide, caused them to develop the movement disorder.

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An estimated 250,000 to 400,000 people in the United States have Tardive Dyskinesia, a disfiguring and debilitating involuntary movement disorder involving symptoms such as lip smacking, tongue thrusting and protruding, eye blinking and bulging, head jerking, facial grimacing, and puckering and pulsing of the lips. The muscle spasms can become painful and embarrassing and often are permanent. But what is most disturbing is that in many cases, the condition could have been prevented.

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You can’t turn on the TV these days without hearing that the heartburn medication Reglan, also known by the generic name metoclopramide, has been linked to the serious involuntary movement disorder, Tardive Dyskinesia. But the drug also carries another serious warning – it can cause depression and suicidal thoughts.

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