Companies invest millions of dollars in the development and testing of new medications. It makes sense that they want to recoup these costs through later sales. Often, medical practitioners and the drug company will find alternate uses for a medication that expand the pool of people eligible to take it.
In the case of leuprolide injections, a drug created to help those with late-stage prostate cancer now gets used not just for men with cancer but also women with reproductive health issues, like endometriosis. While most people who receive leuprolide injections won’t suffer negative side effects, the drug has an association going back decades with catastrophic side effects.
What do leuprolide injections do to the human body?
Leuprolide injections affect the pituitary gland and reduces or eliminates hormone production. This can benefit those with cancers and health issues stemming from naturally produced hormones, like prostate cancer.
Unfortunately, the human body requires hormones for long-term health. Women particularly have reported long-term and sometimes devastating side effects from the sudden onset of menopause associated with leuprolide injections.
Chest pain, accelerated heart rate, headaches or migraines, dizziness, joint pain/degradation, depression, amnesia, insomnia and even death have all been reported side effects from those having an adverse effect to leuprolide injections. Although both men and women suffer consequences from the drug, women make up a larger portion of those who report severe side effects.
What are your rights after a medication does more harm than good?
Patients often accept the risk of side effects when taking a medication, but companies aren’t always honest about the effects of their drugs or previously reported adverse reactions from others.
Those harmed by dangerous drugs or those who lose loved ones because of a medication sometimes have grounds to take legal action against the manufacturer of that medication.
