A recent lawsuit has been filed against the manufacturers of the medication Elmiron by a couple who claim that one of them suffered vision damage after taking the drug for more than a decade.

Lawsuit Filed Due to Elmiron Side Effects

Plaintiffs Sherry D. and James D. filed their lawsuit against Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, and Teva Pharmaceuticals in July 2020, after Sherry suffered what the couple claim are side effects caused by the medication Elmiron.

Sherry claims that she began to take Elmiron for the treatment of interstitial cystitis in approximately 2004. After 16 years of taking the medication, she claims that she began to suffer from serious side effects in 2020, including damage to her retinas.

Due to the damage to her eyes, Sherry claims to have severe and permanent physical and emotional injuries. In addition to pain and suffering, emotional distress, and economic losses, she believes that she will continue to amass medical expenses relating to these injuries in the future. Additionally, Sherry claims that she suffers from mental anguish due to her belief that she may suffer from life-long consequences due to her use of Elmiron.

According to Sherry and James, the pharmaceutical companies took steps to conceal knowledge regarding potential dangers of Elmiron from doctors and patients. They claim that as early as 1996, patients had reported visual side effects and eye damage to the companies after using the drug. However, they claim that they were not warned of the potential that the drug could result in vision loss.

Elmiron and Eye Damage

Elmiron is a drug meant for the treatment of interstitial cystitis, a painful bladder condition that affects primarily women. It is believed that the drug works to soothe the symptoms of the condition by coating the inside of the bladder wall and protecting it from irritants. Although it is the only oral drug approved for the treatment of the condition, Elmiron side effects may dissuade interstitial cystitis sufferers from taking the medication.

In a 2019 study conducted by a research team at Kaiser Permanente in California, more evidence of Elmiron’s link to eye damage was uncovered. The study included 140 patients who were currently taking Elmiron, and had taken the drug for at least 5 years, with an average of 15 years.

According to the researchers, 24% of the patients in the study had eye damage including blurred vision, vision loss, or retinal toxicity. Additionally, the study indicated that the length of time spent taking Elmiron may correlate with the severity of the damage.

Other studies on the effects of Elmiron have indicated that even after the medication is stopped, the drug may continue to cause eye damage. In one case study published by a researcher at Harvard, a woman who had ceased using the drug after taking it for 18 years continued to suffer from progressive eye damage for several years after she stopped treatment.

Symptoms of Elmiron side effects and eye damage may include blurry vision, dark spots in vision, difficulty reading or seeing fine detail, difficulty adjusting to changes in light, or eye pain. If you have experienced these Elmiron side effects, you may be able to speak with an experienced attorney about your legal rights. Some victims of eye damage may be eligible to join or file a class action lawsuit against the manufacturers of the drug.

James and Sherry’s Elmiron Vision Loss Lawsuit is Case No: 3:20-cv-09530-BRM-ZNQ, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.