As of September 15, 2021, there are 527 pending actions in the Elmiron multi-district litigation (MDL). That number is up from the 497 that existed at the end of August. Each month, we are seeing the number of plaintiffs rise as more people become aware of the adverse health effects linked to Janssen Pharmaceuticals’s defective prescription drug.

Elmiron History

Janssen, a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, developed Elmiron in the 1990s. The company received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 1996 and started marketing and selling the drug immediately. Elmiron is used to treat a chronic inflammatory bladder condition known as interstitial cystitis (IC), which causes varying degrees of chronic pain in the bladder and pelvic floor.

Though medical professionals previously thought women suffered from IC at a rate that was five-times higher than men, new research and studies show that the rate is actually only two-times higher because significantly more men have been suffering from the disease than were previously known.

Elmiron Today

Now, 25 years after Elmiron’s release as the first and only U.S.-approved medication for the treatment of interstitial cystitis, it remains the only U.S.-approved drug to treat IC. However, we now have data that credibly links Elmiron to serious long-term and sometimes permanent vision loss.

Elmiron, also known as pentosan polysulfate (PPS), has been linked to a unique and specific type of vision loss called pigmentary maculopathy. Though everyone experiences eye damage with age, this specific type of macular degeneration doctors have seen in patients who had used PPS long term was not consistent with standard age-related macular degeneration. Pigmentary maculopathy was new and seen only in Elmiron users.

Symptoms of Long-Term Elmiron Use

• Blurred/dimmed vision
• Difficulty with night vision
• Eye strain
• Loss of color perception and clarity
• Vision loss and permanent blindness

Elmiron: What’s Next?

The multi-district litigation, which we here at The Yost Legal Group are a part of, alleges that Janssen Pharmaceuticals knew about the dangers Elmiron posed to people’s sight without properly reporting its findings.

In June of 2020, after years of reports from Elmiron users and researchers, the FDA announced it had approved a new warning label for the medication, cautioning doctors who might prescribe it and patients who might use it to treat IC that the drug had been linked to pigmentary maculopathy.

But by June of 2020, Elmiron had already been on the market for nearly 24 years. The Yost Legal Group wants to know if Janssen Pharmaceuticals knew about the dangers Elmiron posed while continuing to push the medication without properly warning potential users, and we are actively working to get to the bottom of it through this litigation.

We expect the number of pending actions in the Elmiron MDL to rise steadily, so we are continuing our research into Elmiron and pigmentary maculopathy.

If you or a loved one has suffered vision loss or has been diagnosed with macular degeneration or pigmentary maculopathy after long-term use of Elmiron, do not wait to contact us today. The experienced defective drug attorneys at The Yost Legal Group are actively working to help victims of defective drugs. There is no time to waste. Call today: 1-800-YOST-LAW (967-8529).