Possible Quinine Lawsuits
Quinine is a natural plant substance found in South America that has been used for many different medial reasons for hundreds of years. It has been used to reduce fever and treat malaria, but it is also used as a pain killer and anti-inflammatory medication. Many people have used it to treat nighttime leg cramps.
Since 1969, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received 665 reports of adverse side effects by patients who were using quinine. Side effects of quinine use included anemia, abnormal blood clotting or bleeding, irregular heartbeats, severe headaches, seizures, nausea, rash, visual disturbances, and liver damage. Ninety three of those reports turned into the FDA were of a patient’s death while using quinine. The FDA banned the sale of over-the-counter quinine used to prevent leg cramps in 1994 as a result of those reports.
Doctors could still write quinine prescriptions for patients with leg cramps until late 1995. At that point, the FDA said that doctors could no longer prescribe it for leg cramps. The only brand of quinine approved by the FDA to be sold on the market is Qualaquin, which is used to treat malaria. Because the FDA doesn’t see leg cramps as life threatening like malaria can be, the benefits of using quinine no longer outweigh the risks.
However, some patients who liked benefits of quinine for leg cramp treatment and continued to use it. While the FDA ordered manufacturers to stop producing the unapproved drugs as recently as December 2006, many brands were still illegally available for sale on the market.
If you or someone you know has suffered adverse side effects as a result of taking quinine, you may have a claim against the manufacturers. Consult a lawyer that is familiar with the FDA findings to see what legal rights you have as a consumer. But, before you contact a lawyer, it is recommended that you put together a timeline of your quinine use, who you purchase it from, what symptoms you suffered, other medications you were taking at the same time, and when you stopped using quinine.
October 16th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
My husband nearly died from quinine sulfate. Our doctor prescribed it for leg cramps. After being in and out of intensive care for 3+ months - and after being misdiagnosed with leukemia, malaria, ITP - a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic finally connected his symptoms with quinine sulfate. Unfortunately, my husband went through 4 Rituxan treatments (chemo) as an “aggressive treatment” for what the doctors misdiagnosed as ITO.
Does anyone know of similar experiences?? How about a class action lawsuit against the manufacturer?
October 22nd, 2008 at 6:17 pm
My father was stationed on Guadal Canal during WWII. They were given quinine daily to prevent malaria, which he got and came home with after the war and was given quinie at that time also.
Later, a doctor prescribed it for leg cramps. My father passed away in 1995 from refractory anemia, which is a type of leukemia. No one could tell us the cause of the anemia. My widowed mother questions how and why every day.
I would go for a lawsuit. It won’t bring him back, but it would answer alot of questions for his family.