A common multiple sclerosis drug could cause serious side effects and lawyers are now conducting a daclizumab encephalitis investigation.

If you or a loved one were diagnosed with encephalitis, liver failure, Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) or another serious side effect after taking Zinbryta (a brand name for the generic drug daclizumab), a drug used to treat multiple sclerosis, you may have a legal claim. 

Patients have reported that the daclizumab encephalitis connection may be dangerous to human health, claiming that their use of the drug caused them to develop a range of severe conditions as side effects. Patients report that the drug can cause serious conditions including the following:

• serious immune reactions
• encephalitis (inflammation of the brain tissue)
• liver failure or serious liver damage
• serious skin reactions including erythema multiforme, Steven Johnson Syndrome, and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis

Now, lawyers are investigating claims by patients who developed daclizumab encephalitis or a range of other conditions after taking the drug.

In many cases, if a drug is found to be dangerous to human health,  the company that manufactures the drug may be liable for the patient’s injury. Filing a daclizumab encephalitis lawsuit could help hold drug companies accountable for endangering the health of the public, and could help you gain compensation for injury.

About Zinbryta

Zinbryta (daclizumab) was approved on May 27, 2016, by the Food and Drug Administration to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis in adult patients. The drug is manufactured by Biogen and Abbvie.

Zinbryta is generally not used as a first option — in most cases, it is prescribed to patients who have not responded well to two or more other multiple sclerosis drugs.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder in which a person’s immune system incorrectly recognizes the protective sheath around nerve cells in the body’s central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) as a foreign and dangerous presence. The immune system then attacks the sheaths they way it would a virus or another dangerous element.

This attack on the body’s protective sheaths (myelin sheaths) then damages the brain and spinal cord’s ability to function properly, disrupting the flow of signals and information between the central nervous system and the rest of the body.

Zinbryta is designed to reduce the effects of multiple sclerosis by weakening the immune system and making it less able to attack the central nervous system’s protective sheaths. The drug does this by binding to the immune cells and reducing their activity.

Zinbryta/Daclizumab Encephalitis

Encephalitis is a condition in which the brain tissue becomes inflamed. This condition is distinct from meningitis, in which inflammation affects the membranes covering the brain.

Encephalitis can be caused by a bacterial or viral infection or can be caused by an immune system disorder. Symptoms of encephalitis are similar to flu symptoms. These symptoms may last for two to three weeks but can persist and worsen. Some symptoms of encephalitis may include:

• Coordination problems
• Delirium or hallucination
• Disorientation or mental confusion
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Headache
• Irritability
• Light sensitivity
• Muscle pain or weakness
• Nausea or vomiting
• Seizures
• Stiff neck

In some cases, patients with encephalitis can exhibit no symptoms.

This condition can be serious, and some patients claim that their encephalitis is linked to their use of Zinbryta.

As a result of the extent and gravity of the health concerns expressed about Zinbryta, the drug was required to have a black box warning (the most serious health warning the FDA issues) for much of its time on the market.

On March 2, 2018, Biogen and Abbvie, the drug’s manufacturers, announced that they would voluntarily recall Zinbryta after serious concerns had been raised about daclizumab and other serious Zinbryta side effects.