Another case has been filed on behalf of victim of NSF
Another lawsuit has been filed against the manufacturers of the gadolinium contrasting dye Omniscan on behalf of a 38-year-old Georgia man who contracted the disease Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis. General Electric Company’s Omniscan is a dye used to better define soft tissue in MRIs. The lawsuit includes GE’s subsidiaries GE Healthcare Inc., GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics, GE Healthcare AS and Novation LLC. Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis is a condition that affects patients with kidney dysfunction who have been exposed to gadolinium dye. It is debilitating, progressive and can be fatal. The lawsuit alleges that Omniscan is defective, and that the defendants failed to adequately test Omniscan and failed to warn patients about its potential to cause NSF. Finally in September 2007, the Food & Drug Administration asked the manufacturers of gadolinium contrast dyes to add a “black box” warning, the most severe, to the product labels about its association with NSF. The FDA also warned that patients with kidney disease should avoid gadolinium contrast agents. NSF is a devastating condition characterized by high blood pressure, burning, itching, swelling and hardening of the skin. Other symptoms include eye discoloration, red or dark patches on the skin, pain deep in the hip bones or ribs and muscle weakness. NSF can progress to the point of causing severe stiffness in joints. There is no known cure for NSF, however an experimental treatment called extracorporeal photopheresis has shown progress in three known cases of NSF. Extracorporeal photopheresis is a form of dialysis that involves treating the blood with photoactive drugs that are then activated when the blood is exposed to ultraviolet light. The blood is then reintroduced to the body effectively helping the body’s immune system fight the disease
