What Is the Elmiron Lawsuit?

Elmiron Lawsuit Attorneys 

The Elmiron case is an ongoing class action lawsuit against Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a New Jersey-based company owned by Johnson & Johnson. Although the first claims were filed in 2020, the litigation is still ongoing with bellwether trials set to begin in January 2023.  

This prominent case involves alleged pharmaceutical fraud concerning the company’s longstanding drug, Elmiron, which was approved by the FDA in 1996. Millions of people have used the medication to treat chronic bladder conditions such as interstitial cystitis (IC), a syndrome that mostly impacts women. 

In 2020, the first Elmiron users came forward to file legal claims against Janssen Pharmaceuticals. The group of women claimed the drug was defective and caused them to develop a degenerative eye disease known as pigmentary maculopathy, the #1 cause of blindness in the United States. 

If you too are suffering after Elmiron use, don’t wait to contact our legal team at Whistleblowers International. Call (800) 689-8552 or contact us online.

Research, Evidence, and Timeline of Events in the Elmiron Lawsuit

The first evidence linking Elmiron to macular eye damage was actually discovered a couple years prior to the first claims in 2020, as denoted in the timeline of events leading up to the case:

• April 2018: Doctors at the Emory Eye Center in Atlanta uncover evidence of atypical retinal pigmentary changes in 6 women who were long-term Elmiron users. 
• Spring 2019: Research is presented at The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), revealing a strong correlation between Elmiron and the risk of permanent vision loss. 
• September 2019: Researchers expand their study into a multi-institutional case series. The results suggested that the specific type of maculopathy linked to Elmiron drug use is unique and unfit to be categorized with existing eye-related diseases and retinal conditions. 
• November 2019: The Emory Eye Center shares conclusive findings that Elmiron use is associated with a new type of macular disease. A Harvard researcher discovers that a patient’s side effects continued for 6 years following her discontinuation of Elmiron, indicating a correlation between duration of use and the severity of eye damage. 
• July 2020: More evidence surfaces proving that Elmiron-associated maculopathy progresses even after discontinuing the drug. 

What Are the Long-Term Side Effects of Elmiron?

Research showed that the Janssen drug is linked to serious vision problems after multiple patients were diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease called pigmentary maculopathy. Other reported side effects include retinal hemorrhage, retinal maculopathy, toxic maculopathy, and vision loss.     

Janssen is currently facing more than 1,360 cases in federal court, with more claims expected to follow. 

How Do I Know if I’m Eligible to File an Elmiron Claim? 

If you’ve experienced eye problems since taking Elmiron, you may be entitled to a financial settlement. To get a better idea of your eligibility, here are some qualifying factors to consider:

• You used Elmiron for a minimum of 2 years. 
• You experienced vision problems while taking the drug or within one year of stopping the drug. 
• You have sought medical treatment for eye issues and/or were diagnosed with vision problems, such as pigmentary maculopathy. 
• Your vision problems started on or after January 1, 2010.  

It’s important to remember that these criteria do not guarantee your eligibility or lack thereof. Only an experienced Elmiron lawyer can confirm whether your case has potential, and provide the professional legal counsel you need to determine your next steps. 

How Long Will an Elmiron Settlement Take?

At the moment, the Elmiron litigation is ongoing, and cases are still being accepted throughout the country. Due to the accumulating quantity of legal claims against Janssen Pharmaceuticals, the Elmiron case was consolidated into a multidistrict litigation (MDL) class action lawsuit. This means that multiple federal cases were consolidated into a single lawsuit to occur in one court, under one federal judge. 

A class action lawsuit of this size will inevitably require patience, as it takes time to investigate defective drug cases of this caliber. The immensity of claims filed, not to mention delaying effect of COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, will unfortunately play a role in when these settlements will occur. 

However, we can take heart in knowing that the bellwether trials will begin in January 2023.