Ohio Zevalin® Lawyers
ZEVALIN® CLAIMS
Contact us about your
Zevalin® Claim
What is ZEVALIN®?
ZEVALIN® is a
therapeutic regimen, administered over seven-to-nine days, to people with
relapsed or refractory low-grade, follicular, or transformed B-cell
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).
ZEVALIN® is
radioimmunotherapy, a new class of cancer treatment that combines the targeting
of antibodies with the cell-damaging effects of radiation. The radiation
antibodies circulate in the body until they locate and bind to the surface of
specific cells. They then deliver radiation directly to cancerous cells only.
A single course of
treatment with ZEVALIN® typically costs $28,000.
Who makes ZEVALIN®?
ZEVALIN® is
made by Biogen Idec, Inc., with headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and
with sales of $2.2 billion in 2004.
ZEVALIN®
can cause severe, sometimes fatal, skin reactions.
These reactions
are known variously as cutaneous reactions, mucocutaneous reactions,
Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS), toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), erythema
multiforme, bullous dermatitis, and exfoliative dermatitis.
The time for development
of these reactions varies. Some occur within days of administration of the
drug. Others occur as much as three-to-four months after administration.
The manufacturer of
ZEVALIN® did not warn patients or doctors of the risk of these kinds of
reactions until fall 2005, when the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
required it.
ZEVALIN® can also
cause severe, sometimes fatal, infusion reactions.
These reactions typically occur during the first infusion with time to onset of
30 to 120 minutes.
Signs and symptoms may
include hypotension, angioedema, hypoxia, or bronchospasm. The most severe
cases include pulmonary infiltrates, acute respiratory distress syndrome
(ARDS), heart attack, ventricular fibrillation, and cardiogenic shock.
