Side Effects of Risperdal
Risperdal is an antipsychotic medication intended
to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia, but it also carries some serious side effects. More than 10 million
people have used Risperdal, allowing Risperdal to be the number one
prescribed antipsychotic. For Johnson & Johnson, the makers of
Risperdal the drug reaps high financial gains, bringing in annual global
sales of $2.1 billion. So successful, Risperdal is the second biggest
selling medicine for J&J. More and more, Risperdal is not being
prescribed for just schizophrenia or other severe mental illnesses,
but for behavioral disorders in children and in elderly patients with
dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, including delusions, aggression, and
anxiety.
At the start of April 2003, an announcement was made
warning of serious effects of Risperdal. The effects of Risperdal included
both strokes and stroke- like events, such as blood clots and hemorrhages.
The effects of Risperdal have been observed to affect especially elderly
Risperdal patients. J&J said that in addition to the thousands
of letters being sent to health care professionals warning of the effects
of Risperdal, an update to the Risperdal label would be made.
These potentially deadly effects of Risperdal are extremely
worrisome to many people. The seriousness of the conditions that the
effects of Risperdal can cause are leading many people to question how
long J&J has known about them without adequately warning physicians
and patients. While J&J appeared to be very concerned with taking
the proper measures to more specifically warn physicians and patients
of the adverse effects of Risperdal, the company had already issued
a similar warning of the effects of Risperdal in Canada in October 2002.
It was not until half a year later that J&J warned
of the increased stroke effects of Risperdal observed in elderly patients
in the U.S. In the Canadian stroke effects of Risperdal warning letter,
J&J cited 37 reports of stroke or stroke-like events that included
16 deaths among Risperdal patients. In addition, the Canadian stroke
effects of Risperdal letter cited two clinical trials of elderly dementia
patients that showed a higher proportion of the Risperdal patients suffered
strokes or stroke-like events, as opposed to those who had received
placebos.
The Public Citizen consumer group is also worried by
the safety implications that have arisen in various clinical trials,
showing the dangerous effects of Risperdal. In four specific trials
that included 764 patients, 4% of patients that had been given Risperdal
suffered serious effects of Risperdal that include stroke or stroke-
like events compared to just 2% of placebo recipients. The dangerous
effects of Risperdal should be a caution to doctors prescribing Risperdal
to people that does not suffer schizophrenia or other serious mental
conditions.
The effects of Risperdal up to the heightened Risperdal
stroke warning still included some very serious and severe conditions.
An especially dangerous attribute of Risperdal is that signs and symptoms
of very serious conditions are not apparent because Risperdal can hide
indicators. Drug overdose, intestinal obstruction, brain tumor, a dangerous
neurological condition called Reye’s syndrome, as well as some other
dangerous effects of Risperdal are often not observed due to the ability
for the drug to mask signs and symptoms of certain conditions. Patients
must be especially aware of these dangerous conditions in order to prevent
dangerous effects of Risperdal from worsening to deadly states.
Other dangerous effects of Risperdal that patients
should be cautious about is difficult when swallowing that can cause
a type of pneumonia to develop. A potentially fatal condition, Neuroleptic
Malignant Syndrome greatly affects patients if left untreated. Characterized
by muscle stiffness or rigidity, irregular pulse, fast heartbeat, increased
sweating, high or low blood pressure, and high fever these effects of
Risperdal will add more pain and suffering to the lives of the patients.
It is essential that potential effects of Risperdal be weighed prior
to beginning Risperdal treatment.
