Gadolinium Lawyer

An elderly man in Northern California has sued various health companies after he contracted an incurable disease due to the dyes used in an MRI.

Around 215 cases of gadolinium causing nephrogenic systemic fibrosis or nephrogenic fibrosing demopathy have been reported worldwide. No cures have been found but some patients see improvement in their condition after treatments.

The FDA issued an warning to kidney disease patients, advising them to avoid medical scans that use gadolinium based contrast agents.

Peter Gerber, the man suing the health companies, calims to have never been informed of the potential dangers of gadolinium. Other similar lawsuits have been filed in Florida and Ohio.

To learn more contact the Gadolinium Lawyers at Williams Kherkher by calling 1-800-220-9341.

Gadolinium based contrast agents that are used in MRIs have been linked with Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis(NSF)/Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy (NFD) in patients with kidney disease. Recently, the FDA released information that suggests MRAs, a variation of MRIs, that use gadolinium based contrast agents may pose more of a risk of causing NSF than they do in traditional MRIs.

MRAs provide information that isn’t given in an ultrasound, X-ray or CT scan. Although this infomation is important in detecting aneurysms, blood clots, and plaquw buildup in blood, the dangers of gadolinium based contrast agents can’t be ignored.

In order to be effective in an MRA, three times the approved amount of gadolinium must be injected before the MRA takes place. This amount of gadolinium can easily cause cases of NSF and NSD.

For more information contact the Gadolinium Lawyers at Williams Kherkher by calling 1-800-220-9341.

As of May 23, 2007 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked manufacturers to include a new boxed warning on the product labeling of all gadolinium-based contrast agents which are used to enhance the quality of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Warnings would state that patients with severe kidney insufficiency who receive gadolinium-based agents are at risk for developing a potentially fatal disease known as nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF).  Patients with NSF develop thickening of the skin and connective tissues that inhibits their ability to move and may result in broken bones. Other organs are at risk of thickening as well. The cause of NSF is not known and there is no consistently effective treatment of this condition.

Patients should be screened for kidney problems prior to receiving one of these imaging agents. The recommended dose should not be exceeded and enough time should elapse to ensure that a dose has been eliminated from the body before the agent is used again.  There have been no reports of NSF among patients with normal kidney function or those with mild-to-moderate kidney insufficiency. 

Reports have identified the development of NSF following single and multiple administrations of the gadolinium-based contrast agents. The reports have not always identified a specific agent however; Omniscan was the most commonly reported agent.

To learn more, please contact Gadolinium Lawsuit Lawyers at Williams Kherkher by calling 1.800.220.9341.

Manufacturers of Gadolinium-based contrast agents issued a Dear Healthcare Professional letter to inform healthcare professionals of the addition of a BOXED WARNING and revisions to the WARNING section of the prescribing information for Gadolinium-based contrast agents used in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).The text of the letter is as follows:Dear Healthcare Professional,
The manufacturers of gadolinium-based contrast agents would like to inform you of important revisions to the prescribing information for the products listed in alphabetical order above. Gadolinium-based contrast agents are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Post-marketing reports show that the use of these agents increases the risk of the development of a serious medical condition called Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF), in patients with acute or chronic severe renal insufficiency (glomerular filtration rate <30mL/min/1.73m2) and patients with renal dysfunction due to the hepatorenal syndrome or in the perioperative liver transplantation period.NSF leads to excessive formation of connective tissue in the skin and internal organs. NSF is progressive and may be debilitating or fatal. As of today, the FDA has received reports of over 250 cases of NSF after administration of gadolinium-based contrast agents.As a result of these NSF cases, the package inserts of all gadolinium-based contrast agents have been revised to include the following Boxed Warning and update to the WARNINGS section.

Call 1-800-FDA-1088 (1-800-332-1088)

For more information, contact Gadolinium Lawyers at Williams Kherkher by calling 1.800.220.9341.

Gadolinium (chemical symbol “Gd”) is a chemical element listed on the Periodic Table.  It was named after the Finnish chemist John Gadolin  (1760-1852) to honor his research in rare earth metals.   Gadolinium is a silvery-white rare metal which occurs naturally on Earth and is relatively stable in dry air unlike other s of that classification.  It is not found in nature in its free form, but is contained in rare minerals and must be chemically extracted.  It cost $130.00 per kilogram in 2005.In addition to its use as an intravenous radiocontrast agent given to patients undergoing an MRI, it is used to manufacture or produce components used in mircrowave applications, TV tubes, compact discs, computer memory and as a burnable poison in nuclear marine propulsion systems.

Its paramagnetic properties make it useful for other imaging besides MRI’s, such as X-rays ,PET scans and a bone density gauge for osteoporosis screening, although Gadolinium is ingested only for MRI applications.  Gadolinium compounds, as with other chemical elements in its class of “lanthanides,” are of low to moderate toxicity.  Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) was first described in medical literature in 2000 in patients with purportedly moderate renal insufficiency.  The association between NSF and Gadolinium-based contrast agents was first reported in Danish Medicines Press release issued on May 29, 2006.

For more information, contact Gadolinium Lawyers at Williams Kherkher at 1.800.220.9341.