Lawsuit Claims Tepezza User Could Have Avoided Hearing Problems with Better Warnings
In a new Tepezza lawsuit filed last week, an Arizona woman who has suffered permanent hearing damage allegedly caused by her Tepezza use alleges that she could have avoided these injuries had the drug maker provided adequate warnings about the risk of hearing loss and the importance of audiologic monitoring during treatment. If you or someone you love received Tepezza infusions and has since suffered hearing loss, tinnitus, or some other form of hearing impairment, contact Consumer Safety Watch today. You deserve to recover financial compensation for your injuries, and we can help connect you with a Tepezza hearing damage attorney who can evaluate your potential claim against manufacturer Horizon Therapeutics.
What is Tepezza?
Tepezza (teprotumumab-trbw) is a new-generation biologic treatment designed to reduce eye bulging and double vision in patients with thyroid eye disease, an autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation of the eye muscles and fatty tissue behind the eye. However, growing evidence of a link between Tepezza infusions and irreversible hearing damage has led former users to pursue Tepezza injury lawsuits against Horizon Therapeutics in courts across the country. This latest Tepezza lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona on April 10, by plaintiff Donna Baldwin, who claims that Horizon knew or should have known that Tepezza may cause hearing loss and other otologic symptoms when used as prescribed and intended, and failed to warn patients and the medical community about this risk. Tepezza was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January 2020 and quickly became a blockbuster drug, bringing in $1.66 billion in sales during its second year on the market.
Link Between Tepezza and Irreversible Hearing Damage
Tepezza is the first and only drug approved by the FDA specifically to treat thyroid eye disease, and while the treatment may offer some relief to patients with this painful eye disorder, critics have expressed concern that Horizon aggressively marketed the drug without disclosing all of its risks. During clinical trials, Horizon reported a hearing loss incidence rate of less than 10% and claimed that, when patients were affected by hearing loss, it was “temporary and generally of limited duration.” Contrary to this, recent research has found that as many as 60% to 80% of patients taking Tepezza for TED may experience hearing-related symptoms like hearing loss and/or tinnitus, which may persist even after stopping treatment. In one case study published last year in the journal OTO Open, a 57-year-old woman with normal hearing who was prescribed Tepezza for TED developed tinnitus in both ears after just two infusions of Tepezza. By the fifth infusion, she had experienced a decline in her overall hearing. The treatment was discontinued due to the emergence of these symptoms, but by one month post-treatment, the patient had seen no improvement in her hearing.
According to this latest Tepezza claim, Donna Baldwin was diagnosed with TED and/or Graves’ disease and received a series of Tepezza infusions administered by her physician between June 2021 and October 2022. As a result of these infusions, the lawsuit states, Baldwin now suffers from permanent hearing loss. “During the relevant time periods, Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s physicians were given no warning and had no knowledge of the serious risk of permanent hearing loss posed by Tepezza,” Baldwin’s complaint states. “Specifically, and as discussed more fully below, there is no warning or indication that Tepezza can, and in fact does, cause permanent hearing loss. Nor are physicians directed to conduct baseline audiology testing prior to treatment with Tepezza, or monitor hearing acuity during treatment.”
Contact Consumer Safety Watch for Help
The Tepezza litigation is fairly new and product liability lawyers across the country are in the process of reviewing claims by former Tepezza users who have suffered hearing impairment, deafness, tinnitus, and other hearing-related injuries. If you took Tepezza to treat thyroid eye disease and you have since been diagnosed with irreversible hearing loss, do not hesitate to speak to a Tepezza injury attorney about your legal options. You may be eligible to join a growing number of injured plaintiffs who say that they could have avoided the risk of irreversible hearing damage from Tepezza treatment had the drug makers provided reasonable warnings about the risk of hearing loss and instructions about the importance of monitoring patients’ hearing. Call us today to find out how we can help.
