A Cymbalta withdrawal lawsuit was filed by a Maine man who alleges Eli Lilly failed to warn consumers about the severity of withdrawal effects from Cymbalta, a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI).

Plaintiff Anthony Orlando alleges that he has incurred, and will continue to incur, physical and psychological pain and suffering, emotional distress, sorrow, anguish, stress, shock, and mental suffering as a result of Cymbalta withdrawal.

Cymbalta is FDA-approved for the treatment of major depressive disorder, general anxiety disorder, fibromyalgia (a chronic pain disorder manifested by body pain and tenderness in the joints, muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues), chronic muscle or joint pain (such as low back pain and osteoarthritis pain) and pain resulting from nerve damage in people with diabetes (diabetic neuropathy).

In 2009, Orlando’s doctor prescribed Cymbalta to treat his fibromyalgia. Three years later, Orlando began feeling physically ill when he took the medication. He elected to wean himself off the drug, under his doctor’s care and supervision.

He allegedly experienced “severe and dangerous withdrawal symptoms upon attempting to discontinue Cymbalta,” including brain zaps, dizziness, irritability, headaches, fatigue, upset stomach, depression and mood swings.

These withdrawal effects were known to Eli Lilly, according to the Cymbalta lawsuit.

In 2012, Eli Lilly amended its label to add the following precautions addressing stopping Cymbalta:

“Discontinuation symptoms have been systematically evaluated in patients taking duloxetine (Cymbalta). Following abrupt or tapered discontinuation in placebo-controlled clinical trials, the following symptoms occurred at 1% or greater and at a significantly higher rate in duloxetine-treated patients compared to those discontinuing from placebo: dizziness, nausea, headache, paresthesia, fatigue, vomiting, irritability, insomnia, diarrhea, anxiety, and hyperhidrosis.”

According to the Cymbalta lawsuit, the withdrawal symptoms are not connected to a patient’s underlying condition but rather are the body’s physical reactions to the drug leaving the system.

Cymbalta’s half-life — the time it takes for the concentration of the drug in the body to be reduced by half — is one of the shortest half-lives of any anti-depressants.

Since 2004, the Cymbalta label has stated that the half-life of Cymbalta is approximately 12 hours, compared with Prozac, which has a half-life of seven days. The shorter the half-life, the faster the body eliminates the drug from the system, thus creating a higher risk of withdrawal symptoms.

“Because Cymbalta’s half-life is less than one day and Cymbalta is generally administered once daily, it is possible for users of Cymbalta to experience withdrawal symptoms after simply forgetting to take one dose,” the Cymbalta withdrawal lawsuit states. “This also means that users cannot safely taper off of the drug by taking a capsule every other day.”

Had Orlando or his doctor known about the debilitating Cymbalta withdrawal effects, the doctor would not have prescribed the drug, the Cymbalta lawsuit alleges, or the physician would have been able “to more adequately, accurately and properly weigh and convey the risks and benefits of the drug.” Orlando may have also declined to take the drug if he knew of the risks.