Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
Merck Animal Health has been hit with a class action lawsuit by consumers who claim that their dog and cat drug Bravecto contains a pesticide that is harmful to pets.
Bravecto tablets and topical medications are used on both cats and dogs, and are marketed as a way to prevent ticks and fleas for up to three months.
Plaintiff Valerie Palmieri says she paid just under $50 for one Bravecto chewable tablet to treat her 78 pound German Shepherd Jake for fleas and ticks.
After taking the pill, Jake started to vomit, did not eat, and began to show symptoms of lethargy, according to the Bravecto class action lawsuit. The plaintiff reportedly took Jake to the emergency animal clinic after the dog was no longer able to walk.
Palmieri claims that she contacted Merck to talk about Jake’s possible adverse reaction to taking the drug. The company allegedly denied that that Jake’s sickness was caused by Bravecto but offered to pay for the emergency room visit.
However, the company would only pay if she signed an agreement which would release any claims against the company, according to the Bravecto class action lawsuit.
The plaintiff states that she refused to release her claims as she wasn’t sure if Jake’s symptoms would be long-term and was still not sure if her dog’s symptoms were caused by the drug.
After more tests and a trip to a neurologist, the plaintiff’s veterinarian allegedly told her that he “presumed” that Jake’s diagnosis of meningitis was a result of “Bravecto toxicity,” which was contrary to what she was told by the defendant.
Since he ingested the drug, Jake has continued to have neurological episodes, according to the Bravecto class action lawsuit. In September of this year, he reportedly fell down a flight of stairs and broke his leg. The plaintiff claims that she has spent “tens of thousands of dollars” treating Jake after he ingested Bravecto.
Palmieri says that when she purchased the tablet, the packaging and materials enclosed therein did not state that neurological adverse reactions were possible when taking the pill. In addition, the defendant allegedly did not tell veterinarians about the possible safety issues that the drug posed to pets.
“Because Defendant failed to disclose the risks of Bravecto to consumers and misrepresented the safety of Bravecto, consumers would be reasonable in purchasing Bravecto to treat their pets in a safe manner,” the class action lawsuit notes.
The Bravecto class action lawsuit also states that in September 2018, the FDA issued an alert about the possible neurological events that are associated with medicines like Bravecto to treat fleas and ticks.
The FDA has subsequently asked manufacturers to change their labels to “highlight neurological events because these events were seen consistently across the isoxazoline class of products” and “to provide veterinarians and pet owners with the information they need to make treatment decisions for each pet on an individual basis,” according to the Bravecto class action lawsuit.
The plaintiff states that the defendant now discloses that there may be some neurological reactions to taking Bravecto, including tremors, ataxia, and seizures.
“Every consumer who purchased Bravecto without being informed of the true facts about its health and safety risks prior to purchase was injured at the point of sale when, instead of obtaining a safe flea and tick medication, they obtained Defendant’s unreasonably dangerous and defective product,” the Bravecto class action lawsuit states.
Did you purchase Bravecto for your pet? Leave a message in the comments section below.
The plaintiff is represented by Mark A. Dicello, Adam J. Levitt, and Amy E. Keller of DiCello Levitt and Gutzler LLC and Jessica J. Sleater and Ralph N. Sianni of Andersen Sleater Sianni LLC.
The Bravecto Class Action Lawsuit is Valerie Palmieri v. Intervet Inc., et. al, Case No. 2:19-cv-22024, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
1,797 thoughts onBravecto Class Action Says Meds Aren’t Safe For Pets
My cat was given Bravecto and a few days later developed severe neurological deficits, unable to use his hind legs at all. My vet ran tests and said he was anemic. I took him in to get an iron injection. He immediately looked bad and was dead one hour later. It was a horrific death. It looked the way I would imagine getting euthanizing medications subq instead of IV.
My 14 year old yorky is very skittish all of a sudden. Very nervous and i have never had this issue before. I will never give bravecto to any dog again. Its a neurological issue and he ahd very bad gas wouldn’t eat. He is eating now after a few days but acting weird. Sliding on stairs and very jumpy
We gave our 4 month old healthy puppy Mollie Nexgard after being convinced by her then veterinarian that it was safe. 12 days after giving her Nexgard she had a near fatal adverse reaction to the insecticide Nexgard. She has been receiving special veterinarian care since 2018 as a result of this adverse reaction. Can someone please tell me how we can join the class action lawsuit
Yes my Charlie (German Shepherd) passed away 7 months after taking her FIRST dose of Bravecto. She was sick 2 weeks after her first dose and visited the vets many times due to diarrhea and not eating with no explanation. We tried to control it with medicine and food but she developed pancreatitis, IBD, lost 30 pounds in 7 months. She was very healthy before taking Bravecto. No health issues at all. Ultimately, she passed a few weeks ago. Our heart is broken.
My cat was already diagnosed with epilepsy before we got her from the shelter. Can be genetic or maybe because she came in contact with a poison (wait for it!) The shelter didn’t know her backstory so could be either of these.
In the shelter they got her seizures under control, and for the first year with us she was fine, without any seizure. On a low dose of epilepsy medication. After one year she had one seizure (probably related to the vaccination and stress caused by that). Then 5 months later (again after a vaccination) she got two seizures in one month. We talked about raising her dose a bit with the vet. She also had some skin irritation, my vet suspected maybe an allergic reaction to a fleabite. So also prescribed Bravecto. She was on Gabapectin because she can be quite feisty at the vet. This probably gave her a few extra days because
she was fine for a few days, but as this insecticide started to work: block GABA (what relaxes te brain) then the seizures kept increasing and at one point came at every half hour. We rushed to emergency care, and she has been hospitalized with a lot of medication to stop the seizures and now we wait and pray, for her to come out of it, hopefully without too much damage. The doctors did an mri, brain fluid, bloodtest, everything is normal. Which even surprised the neurologist, the way her seizures were increasing he suspected a brain tumor or something like that.
The only thing that was a change was giving her this poison.
I’m so angry at my vet, but she likely prescribed it without knowing this possible side effect. Why the h*ll is it not written on the label with side effects!! (EU)
My baby, Cali was 7 years old & just got healthy after a 3 month skin infection ordeal. She died in my arms 3 days after giving her the Bravecto for her skin issues with fleas. Of course it was prescribed by my veterinarian.
I’m positive 100% the Bravecto is the reason she’s gone. I couldn’t afford a necropsy at the time so of course I have no proof. But she was healthy, eating, playing, her hair had grown back,walking, etc.
I gave her the Bravecto pill with her meal as the vet instructed. That eve she started vomiting, wretching, refused any food, seizures, etc for 3 days. We tried to get her to the emergency vet but this was the week we in Texas got snowed in. We couldn’t get our car out of the driveway. By the time we did get her to the vet she was gone. Our hearts broke & we lost one of our babies because of this product. We spent 3 months getting her healthy & back to being herself & playing with her brothers. I’m devastated!! She died Feb 18, 2021.
I sent the manufacturers of Bravecto a letter stating everything above including this:
“I’m sure you & your people don’t care that my baby died because of your product. But I’m writing so you can be aware of some dogs have allergic reactions & you can adjust your statistics by adding 1 more. Might I also suggest you adding onto your disclaimers & stats…what to do if a dog has a reaction to the Bravecto & can’t get to a vet. That certainly would have helped me to know.
Rest assured I will be sharing my experience with the Bravecto product to any & every person I can who has dogs.
Thank you for your time.”
No surprise I never got a response from the company.
So sorry for your loss. We know what you are going through, we lost our beloved dog, Bailey, due to Braveto. She suffered for three weeks after taking Braveto, went blind, had numerous seizures, went deaf and lost all mobility . We brought her to numerous Vets over that period to try and find out what was going on. She got so bad we have a Vet come to our house and put her down. She died in our arms and broke our hearts. She crossed over the rainbow bridge on July 27, 2022 at 2:36pm and broke our hearts. We are so furious this drug is prescribed by trusted Vets and that the FDA allows a poisonous pesticides to be given to our beloved pets. Prayers to you…
Two cats who have received Bravecto have neurological issues. One we had to put down.
I gave my 6 mo old Chow Bravecto and after a few weeks began to notice little bumps on his skin. I didn’t know if it was a seasonal allergy and it was effective in killing ticks (I’m in Maine in the summer and they were awful!). I did a second dose but the bumps persisted and spread. I finally took him to the vet. I told her I suspected the Bravecto as it was one of the SE’s I read about. She brought the product insert in to the exam room and we read it together. She took a swipe of the bumps and looked at it under the microscope – sure enough, there was an active skin infection. So he went on a course of antibiotics. All along his bowel moevements have been more liquidy, and now he has developed an epidemial mass on his muzzle. This appeared out of nowhere and is growing rapidly…so I’m doing a biopsy. I am convinced these toxins completely mess with our animals’ systems, especially a young, growing and developing dog. I am hoping this mass is not cancerous. And yes, I stopped giving him Bravecto after the second dose.
We gave our Bulldog dog Brevecto. At the time he began having seizures he was 1 year old After seeing two different vets and multiple tests it was determined that the cause of the seizures was neurological. He continued to have seizures after being prescribed anti-seizure medication twice per day. As the seizures continued to occur, his medication dose was increased and a second anti seizure medication was added.
Two weeks ago, at the age of 18 months, he began having violent seizures in the middle of the night. We were driving to the nearest emergency vet at 2 am when he passed away.
We gave our 11 year old Jack Russell cross Bravecto on the 7/12/22. Everything was fine but two weeks ago he had a seizure, every day he is shaking and trembling, teeth chattering. He sleeps constantly, cannot jump up on things that he was able to previously. He had been to the vet for a check up in late November where the vet remarked “he’s just like a puppy!” Until we put Bravecto on him, he was energetic, enthusiastic, excitable and full of beans. Now he is having a hard time getting up from his bed, and shaking constantly. We did take him to the vet and they said they couldn’t find much wrong with him, so now we have to just pray that he makes it through to where the Bravecto will be out of his system. Feels sick to know that we did this to him.
We gave our 2 savannah cats bravecto plus 2 weeks ago. One of our cats lost hair where the topicsl solution was applied. Then we started noticing him not eating his food like perilously. He would only eat about a 1/4 cup instead of his normal 3/4 cup of raw food. He would also and is still sometimes missing his mark when he jumps from the table to a shelf, which is only 4 ft height when he could previously jump from the floor to the top of the fridge without an issue. And 2 days ago I could not sit in my chair because he was asleep all day in it and refused to move. This is not acceptable for a company to knowingly put a product on the market that will probably kill your companion more than it will keep them safe.
Same for my cats. Neurological issues since receiving the topical.