A federal judge permitted a Tasigna lawsuit to move forward over claims that the manufacturer Novartis AG failed to warn about the health risks of taking the drug. The lawsuit filed by a Florida man for treating chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) who alleged that consuming Tasigna caused him a stroke in 2013.
The plaintiff was under Tasigna medication since 2011 and claims Novartis failed to warn doctors and patients about the possible adverse effects of the drug. The drugmaker, however, requested for a summary judgment indicating it could not add a warning label without proper permission from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Novartis also insisted that the FDA would have rejected such a warning label proposal. But the summary motion request was rejected by U.S. District Judge Robert L. Rosenberg of the Southern District of Florida in an order issued on July 9, 2018, asserting that there was no clear evidence that the FDA would reject the proposal to add a warning label for stroke.
Tasigna was introduced in 2007 to treat chronic myeloid leukemia by blocking proteins that make cancer cells grow. However, a growing number of claims link the use of Tasigna and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), which can lead to stroke, heart attack, or even death.
