Lawsuit Claims Pfizer Failed to Warn about Viagra Melanoma Risk

A lawsuit filed by a California man who developed melanoma after years of Viagra use claims the drug’s maker, Pfizer, failed to warn Viagra users of the melanoma risk.

According to the lawsuit, the man said he would not have used Viagra (sildenafil) if he had been aware of the connection between Viagra and melanoma, Law360 reports. The drug was prescribed for erectile dysfunction, and the man said it worked, but he said the melanoma risk far outweighs the drug’s benefits. Law360 reports that 13 similar cases have been filed and more than two dozen others are pending across the country.

The plaintiff had been taking Viagra for about five years when a large mark on his shoulder was diagnosed as melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer. The National Cancer Institute (part of the National Institutes of Health) explains that melanoma is more likely than other skin cancers to spread to other parts of the body, causing further tissue damage and complicating the possibility for effective treatment and eradication of the cancerous cells.

The California man’s melanoma was successfully treated, but he continued using Viagra for at least two more years before learning of the studies about the Viagra-melanoma connection published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and elsewhere. Despite “significant findings, Pfizer has made no efforts in its ubiquitous Viagra advertisements to warn users about the potential risk of developing melanoma that has been scientifically linked to its drug,” according to the legal complaint.

The 2014 JAMA study reported that among 25,848 participants, recent sildenafil users at baseline had a significantly elevated risk of invasive melanoma, with a “hazard ratio” of 1.84. Study participants who had recently used sildenafil exhibited an 84 percent increase in risk of developing or encouraging invasive melanoma.

Viagra inhibits the secretion of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE5), an enzyme that can prevent erection. Studies from 2011, 2012 and 2014 found that blocking the enzyme can trigger the creation of melanoma cells. The most recent study cited in the suit looked at nearly 26,000 men in the United States who take Viagra and found that the melanoma risk for recent users increased by 84 percent, compared with the risk for nonusers. Melanoma is not listed among possible side effects of Viagra.

The California man has faced numerous surgeries and significant medical costs since the melanoma diagnosis and he expects more melanoma-related bills. The lawsuit seeks actual and punitive damages from Pfizer. According to the legal complaint, no man who gets a Viagra prescription “would believe or be expected to know that his use of Viagra would expose him to an increased risk of developing melanoma or exacerbating the growth of melanocytes [skin cancer cells] already present in his body.”

The legal complaint says Pfizer “purposefully downplayed, understated and outright ignored the melanoma-related health hazards and risks associated with using Viagra.” And the drug maker also “deceived potential Viagra users” by relaying positive information through the press, for example through  testimonials from popular retired politicians, while downplaying known adverse health effects like melanoma.

 

 

 

from Parker Waichman http://www.yourlawyer.com/blog/lawsuit-claims-pfizer-failed-to-warn-about-viagra-melanoma-risk/