Eltroxin users sue drug, health funds
09/24/2012 00:54
14 patients whose drug for treating hypothyroidism was reformulated without their knowledge file class-action suit.
ELTROXIN Photo: Courtesy
A lawyer representing 14 patients whose drug for treating hypothyroidism was
reformulated without their knowledge have filed a class-action suit request to
the Central Region District Court.
The lawsuit is aimed against Perrigo
and GlaxoSmithKline Israel, and two health funds – Clalit and Maccabi Health
Services.
The lawyer has asked for NIS 4.5 billion in damages for his
clients.
The Health Ministry did not initially require the companies to
tell doctors about the change in the widely taken drug, yet these patients who
take the drug for their chronic condition claim to have suffered serious side
effects.
The ministry set up a committee to investigate the incident, but
the lawyer and his clients were not satisfied.
The lawyer claimed that
the health funds did not report problems with the drug, Eltroxin, “even though
they knew about them,” and that the ministry “glossed over the health insurers’
obligations to update their doctors.”
The hypothyroid patients were
exposed to the new formulation for seven months before they realized the drug
was different, the attorney said.