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Why the FDA Removes Drugs from the Market

 Posted on June 03, 2013 in Drugs

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) controls what drugs may be sold or prescribed to the public. If a prescription drug is proven to cause dangerous side effects, FDA may remove it from the market. Also, the FDA may ask the manufacturer to withdraw a drug when the drug is not used in treatment anymore. There are a number of reasons why the FDA sometimes chooses to remove a drug off the market, according to this article. Here are two of them.

Many drugs on the market cause side effects that are well documented. In fact, known side effects lead to more injuries and fatalities than unknown ones. However, some adverse effects only happen rarely which makes predicting them difficult. Normally, drugs are tested rigorously before they end up in the market allowing the more common side effects to be detected. But rare problems do not necessarily show up in these tests and dangerous drugs manage to get in the market.

Sometimes, a drug proves to be more toxic than what was previously thought. For example, Baycol (cerivastatin) was a type of a cholesterol lowering drug. It was later discovered that Baycol can cause rhabdomyolysis, a serious condition that breaks down muscle cells and can lead to kidney failure and other fatal problems. The FDA initially approved the drug because they did not discover the dangers associated with it. However, when the drug was used in higher doses and more frequently, it became apparent that it caused rhabdomyolysis more often than similar drugs. The FDA pulled the drug off the market in 2001.

If you have suffered severe side effects from a drug, you may be eligible for compensation and should immediately contact a knowledgeable lawyer. Please contact an experienced defective medical devices attorney in Illinois today.

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