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Zelnorm (ibs Drug) Pulled Off The Market For Deaths

Fiddle-Faddle

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Fiddle-Faddle Community Regular
Fiddle-Faddle
Posted

Zelnorm, made by Novartis, was pulled off the market on March 30, 2007: Open Original Shared Link

It was prescribed to people diagnosed with IBS.

I can't help wondering how many of those people to whom it was prescribed actually have celiac, and their doctors never bothered to look for it but just handed them a prescription.

I noticed in my local paper today ads about this from some of the law firms who specialize in medical malpractice. I was thinking this might be another way we can get celiac awareness "out there." We can contact these law firms and give them info about celiac, which should totally win their cases for them, both against Novartis and against the doctors who wrote a band-aid prescription without ever looking for a dietary cause of symptoms.

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phakephur Apprentice
phakephur
Posted

I thought this part was interesting. I'm sure these patients don't try gluten-free diet before their doctors pronounce their condition unresponsive to any other treatment.

Though the drug will no longer be widely available, patients who have no other treatment options could still get access to the drug. The FDA said it is likely to allow Novartis to continue selling Zelnorm to patients if their doctors say they have disease that does not respond to any other treatment and if the benefits of treatment with Zelnorm outweigh the risks of serious side effects.
MrsM Newbie
MrsM
Posted

I noticed that the Zelnorm story on WebMd has a link to a WebMd message board: Open Original Shared Link

One person posted a message saying that if she/he can't take Zelmorn anymore, she/he will go back to the Atkins Diet "which seemed to help". If someone here has a username/password at WebMd, it may be worth posting a reply letting that person know that gluten intolerance could be the problem.

Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

I was put on Zelnorm prior to my diagnosis.

Nantzie Collaborator
Nantzie
Posted

Ugh. This is why I consider the first few years of a prescription being out on the market to just be another phase of their clinical trials. Soooo many drugs get pulled that I wouldn't trust anything until it's been out on the market for a few years.

Nancy

Fiddle-Faddle Community Regular
Fiddle-Faddle
Posted
  • Author
I was put on Zelnorm prior to my diagnosis.

Did it help you?

Anonymousgurl Contributor
Anonymousgurl
Posted

I was put on zelnorm by a doctor who refused to test me for anything. He said that all I had was IBS. I took zelnorm for a year, and it made me even sicker. It was horrible. Finally I switched to a private M.D. who practices alternative medicine and he took me off of zelnorm immediately and started testing me.

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Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted
Did it help you?

Did it help me? I never thought that I could regulate it, or rather regulate me. I do recall that it kept me in the house in the morning for several hours. I don't remember any side effect other than that. Soon after that Celiac kicked in, and found way no need for it.

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