We recently told you about the hundreds of Cymbalta withdrawal trials waiting to be heard in courts around the country. The first of these cases has now been heard in California and the jury sided in favor of Cymbalta’s manufacturer, Eli Lilly.
The manufacturer claimed that one percent or more of Cymbalta patients would experience side effects related to the withdrawal of the medication from their treatment regimen. Those side effects were supposed to be minor and fairly short lived; including bouts of nausea, irritability, and insomnia.
However, a review of literature conducted by the Journal of Affective Disorders found Cymbalta withdrawal side effects to be much stronger and farther-reaching than the manufacturer indicated. Upward of 44 percent of Cymbalta patients were found to have experienced withdrawal symptoms in one form or another according to the review.
In addition, those Cymbalta withdrawal symptoms were reported to be far more severe than nausea and irritability. Patients reported electric-shock like sensations shooting through their bodies while others reported suicidal thoughts flooding their brains.
The plaintiff in the first trial, California resident Claudia Herrera, also reported anxiety and spasms. Her lawsuit accused Eli Lilly of downplaying the possible withdrawal symptoms of Cymbalta in an effort to market the drug more aggressively.
In its defense, Lilly stated that sufficient warnings about Cymbalta’s withdrawal symptoms are provided on the drug’s label and physicians including Herrera’s prescribing physicians specifically, are aware of the withdrawal risks when taking their patients off of the medication.
A case which highlights similar circumstances is set to begin, also in California, in mid-August.
