Two Patients Die After Receiving Zyprexa Injections

Physicians already have safety measures in place for treating patients with Zyprexa. The drug is known to have a number of serious side effects, including paradoxical reactions – situations where the drug actually worsens psychiatric issues for a small percentage of patients, as well as causing metabolic changes in the body that make a patient more prone to disorders like type-2 diabetes. But some patients suffered from an even more serious complication in clinical trials.

Some patients who took Zyprexa during clinical trials suffered from symptoms later named “Post-Injection Delirium Sedation Syndrome” or PDSS. In these patients, the drug enters the blood stream too fast, causing delirium and sedation which can progress to a coma.

To combat these Zyprexa side effects and other concerns, health care workers follow a protocol called the Zyprexa Relprevv Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy or REMS. This includes monitoring the patient in a medical environment for several hours after receiving an injection to deal with any serious adverse effects.

However, in June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a safety alert for Zyprexa injections. The agency had received two reports of patients dropping dead several days after receiving a normal dose of Zyprexa. In both patients, their deaths occurred three to four days after they received their injections, well after the observation period associated with REMS.  Both of the patients were found to have very high levels of Zyprexa-related compounds in their blood after they died.

At the present, the FDA is still investigating the deaths. They do not know if the two patients died from PDSS or some new reaction to the drug.

At the present, the FDA does not recommend patients discontinue their medication without consulting their health care providers. Sudden, unsupervised discontinuation of drugs like Zyprexa can cause a host of medical problems in and of themselves. The exact cause of death is still being determined.  

An investigation has been launched to explore drug injury lawsuits against the manufacturers of Zyprexa. Similar lawsuits against drug manufacturers have alleged that pharmaceutical companies were aware – or should have been aware – of the serious health risks associated with their drugs.

A Zyprexa lawsuit could allege that the manufacturer failed to act on this information in a timely manner to protect the public – or even actively downplayed the risk, preventing patients and their prescribing physicians from having all of the facts that they needed to make an informed decision regarding their medical care.

If you or someone you love received an injection of Zyprexa, then went on to suffer from serious medical complications, your life could be completely turned upside down. Losing a loved one to adverse reactions to drugs can completely change your life. But you need to remember that you do have rights, and you can take back control of your situation. You can start by visiting the Zyprexa Injection Heart Attack, Death Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. Here, you can enter your information for a free review by a Zyprexa injury attorney with a background in this type of litigation.