Thousands of Americans across the country, Illinois, and in the Chicago area have suffered life-threatening kidney injuries after taking Fleet Phospho-Soda in preparation of colonoscopies and other surgeries. Fleet Laboratories is the principal manufacturer of Phospho-soda and has been promoting the product without warning of its drug side effects, which can include kidney damage and renal failure.
Studies have revealed that the link between Fleet Phospho-Soda and these side affects could be the result of calcium phosphate tubules that form in a kidney, which can lead to acute renal failure.
As far back as April 2002 a Health Canada advisory first warned the medical community that oral sodium phosphate solutions like Fleet Phospho-Soda can affect heart and kidney function. A later article published by the New England Journal of Medicine in September 2003 warned that this product could result in serious side effects, such as seizures and acute renal failure.
In December 2008 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a patient saftey alert which advised that oral sodium phosphates solutions should be available by prescription only. Immediately following that warning Fleet issued a recall of Phospho-Soda, which had been sold as an over-the-counter medication. In their statement regarding the recall, Fleet advised doctors to no longer directed patients to use this product for bowel cleansing.
Further studies have revealed not all people are at the same risk for developing renal failure from ingesting oral sodium phosphate solutions. People with a history of kidney failure, heart disease, and bowel disease are at a higher risk and should not take this oral sodium phosphate solution prior to x-ray examinations and colonoscopies.
If you or a family member has been affected by use of the Fleet Phospho-Soda as a bowel cleanser that would be a preparation for a colonoscopy or other procedure, you should seek legal advice in the event of injury. A Chicago resident recently obtained a mulit-million dollar verdict after suffering kidney damage as a result of taking Fleet Phospho-Soda prior to a colonoscopy.
Chicago’s Kreisman Law Offices has been handling pharmaceutical litigation cases in Illinois for over 30 years, serving areas in and around Cook County such as Chicago Heights, Downers Grove, Hoffman Estates, and Northbrook.