Health Buzz: Immunosuppressive Drug Warning and Other Health News

i first took remicade in 2000. i do not have aids nor am i hiv positive. i had a broken hip repaired and while in the hospital my dr brought in what i believe was my 2nd dose of remicade. within days i had developed pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. i spent several weeks in the hospital and received trimetrexate. have others had a problem such as this?

libby covell of WA 2:00AM September 17, 2008

My husband took Remicade, Enbrel, and Humira for RA for four years and was diagnosed with Non Hodgkin’s Mantle Cell Lymphoma on March 8, 2007. He began taking the drugs in 2002, before Johnson and Johnson, i.e. Centocor, Abbott, and Amgen/Wyeth announced that TNF Inhibitors could cause Lymphoma. Upon diagnosis, my husband was given 6 to 8 months to live; however, he had a Stem Cell Transplant on August 27, 2007, at Wake Forest Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC. Our family and especially my husband have been and are still going through a nightmare over these drugs. All RA victims need to be aware of what these TNF Inhibitors can do to them. My husband should not be going through this. Doctors should not be prescribing these drugs to RA victims.

The drug companies and the FDA, need to stop the sell of these drugs? Through our experience with these drugs, we have learned that if someone is a victim of deadly Lymphoma from taking these drugs, there is no recourse. Doctors won’t help because the drug companies treat them to luxurious trips and vacations so the doctors will prescribe the drugs to patients. Furthermore, hospitals won’t help because these drug companies are benefactors on building and equipment projects for the hospitals. Therefore, families just continue to suffer over the results of these drugs. However, we do have an attorney who is looking into my husband's situation because his RA doctor says that Humira caused the Lymphoma. This doctor has treated him for over 12 years and he never had problems until he took the TNF Inhibitors. We know these drugs caused this deadly Lymphoma in my husband. He and his sister are within one year in age, they both have the same genes and the same degree of RA. He was treated with these three drugs and his sister wasn’t treated with the drugs. He has Non-Hodgkin’s Mantle Cell Lymphoma and his sister doesn’t have it. Unique case, proof that the drugs caused the Lymphoma in my husband. Furthermore, as I stated, he never had any problems with Lymphoma until he took the Humria.

Ask your loved ones if they want to risk their life by taking these drugs. Remicade, Enbrel, and Humria are KILLER drugs. This is not fiction; this is a man’s life. One life is One too many.

Furthermore, our attorney, through his research, found out that the drug companies are trying to get a Bill passed in Congress where victims of deadly drugs cannot sue the drug companies if the FDA approved the drugs. Contact your Senators, Congressman, Representatives, the President and who ever you have to contact to prevent any Bills like this from being passed. Drug companies should have to pay when they make drugs that kill people. My husband took these TNF Inhibitors to help relieve arthritis pain and to help prevent his joints from deteriorating. The RA doctor put him on these drugs in good faith, trusting the drug companies. My husband took these drugs in good faith, trusting the drug companies because there were not warnings until after October 2004 about the drugs causing this deadly Lymphoma. Now, my husband is facing death over his trust in Johnson and Johnson, i.e. Centocor, Abbott, and Amgen/Wyeth. If you would like more information about my husband's situation, please feel free to contact us through this website. Also, think seriously before you allow a doctor to put you on either of these drugs.

Nancy C. Sexton of VA 9:53AM September 08, 2008

How did this go from Immunosuppressive Drug Warning to politics? AADD seems to be widespread.

Not Soandso of CA 1:04PM September 07, 2008

Recent studies strongly suggest that some people have a genetic predisposition to autism. In families with one autistic child, the risk of having a second child with the disorder is approximately 5 percent, or one in 20. This is greater than the risk for the general population. Researchers are looking for clues about which genes contribute to this increased susceptibility. In some cases, parents and other relatives of an autistic child show mild impairments in social and communicative skills or engage in repetitive behaviors. Evidence also suggests that some emotional disorders, such as manic depression, occur more frequently than average in the families of people with autism.

jimjus of VA 9:38AM September 07, 2008