According to a federal judge’s ruling in a November 2014 Cymbalta withdrawal lawsuit, he maintained that Cymbalta’s drug warning label sufficiently warned consumers of possible antidepressant discontinuation syndrome, even though plaintiffs allege drug maker Eli Lilly left out important clinical trial statistics.

In the federal trial for McDowell v. Eli Lilly, Judge Robert W. Sweet ruled that Cymbalta’s drug label was sufficient because the language in the drug warning was sufficient in warning consumers of Cymbalta withdrawal symptoms, making the statistics unnecessary.

However, it is important to know that in this specific Cymbalta withdrawal lawsuit, the judge’s decision relied heavily on the fact that the nurse practitioner involved in the plaintiff’s prescription and use of Cymbalta had knowledge of Cymbalta withdrawal risks. This knowledge allegedly discredited the plaintiff’s warning causation claim in his antidepressant discontinuation syndrome lawsuit.

In late February, the plaintiff of this Cymbalta withdrawal symptoms lawsuit moved for reconsideration in this case. The first time this case went to trial, the plaintiff focused on the fact that a certain Cymbalta “Perahia” study suggested that over 44 percent of patients on Cymbalta experienced antidepressant discontinuation syndrome.

The plaintiffs state that this information was not included in the Cymbalta drug label and that should have been instead of the descriptive language that indicated a list of possible withdrawal symptoms that the company claimed occurred in about 1 percent of patients.

In the reconsideration motion for this Cymbalta withdrawal syndrome lawsuit, the plaintiff instead focused on warning causation claims and the testimony of the Cymbalta prescriber, something that had been brought up in the initial lawsuit, but that the plaintiff thought deserved a second look.

However, in previous depositions, the nurse practitioner already testified that she was aware of the significant Cymbalta withdrawal risks and claims she would have still prescribed the antidepressant to the plaintiff even if the label included the Perahia study statistics.

The court determined that nothing new had been raised in the motion for reconsideration. In light of this and other details, the court denied the plaintiff’s reconsideration for this Cymbalta withdrawal lawsuit.

Cymbalta Antidepressant Discontinuation Syndrome

Cymbalta is a common antidepressant medication manufactured by Eli Lilly. Since its FDA approval, Cymbalta has been prescribed to treat numerous physical and psychological conditions including anxiety, fibromyalgia, chronic muscle and bone pain, and depression symptoms.

However, recent medical reports suggest Eli Lilly has not been completely honest with doctors and consumers about the prevalence of Cymbalta withdrawal symptoms.

A Cymbalta drug study published in 2005 suggests that 51 percent of patients using Cymbalta have experiencing mild to severe antidepressant discontinuation syndrome symptoms after they stopped taking the Eli Lilly drug.

Some Cymbalta withdrawal side effects include:

• Severe nausea
• Vomiting
• Dizziness, light-headedness, vertigo
• Headaches
• Hot and cold flashes
• Mood swings, anxiety, irritability, hostility
• Nightmares
• Electric-shock-like sensations in the brain
• Tingling, tickling, prickling, pricking, or burning sensations of the skin
• Tremors, shaking hands
• Visual disturbances

As a result of this and other studies, many antidepressant consumers are pursuing Cymbalta lawsuits and may choose to file a Cymbalta withdrawal symptoms class action lawsuit in the future.