SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Chuck and Gena Norris announced today that they have filed a lawsuit against eleven drug companies, including McKesson and Bracco, that they claim are responsible for the gadolinium contrast dye used during the MRIs that nearly cost Gena her life.
The lawsuit alleges that Gena was poisoned by gadolinium and sustained Gadolinium Deposition Disease following routine MRIs. Gena suffered long-term health implications requiring multiple hospitalizations and almost $2 million dollars in out-of-pocket medical expenses.
The couple, represented by attorneys Brooks Cutter and Todd Walburg of Cutter Law in California, hopes to raise awareness about the effects of gadolinium toxicity, while educating patients about the lack of warnings currently in place for gadolinium-based contrast agents. Cutter Law filed the first Gadolinium Deposition Disease lawsuit in 2016.
“Unfortunately, litigation is the only course of action we can take to hold the drug companies accountable for threatening the lives of so many innocent people who undergo MRIs,” Gena said. “These companies continue to say that there is no link between gadolinium and adverse events, even though the evidence is overwhelming that this heavy metal stays in the body for years, rather than hours,” she added.
Recently, the FDA announced that it will require additional warnings for gadolinium-based contrast agents to alert patients to gadolinium retention in the human body, including in organs and the brain. In Europe, several of the most common agents have been banned.
Gena Norris has experienced cognitive impairment, body pain/burning, kidney damage, loss of energy/mobility, and difficulty breathing. Now, almost five-years post-gadolinium poisoning, she continues to require regular stem cell therapies and other treatments to heal her central nervous system.
While the Norris family has spent millions of dollars to save Gena’s life, they had to go outside of mainstream medicine to accomplish this. The FDA has still not approved the most common gadolinium removal treatment, chelation, which patients must seek out and pay for themselves.
Chuck and Gena Norris, Brooks Cutter, and Todd Walburg are available for interviews beginning at 9:00 am PST on November 1st at the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco.
For more information on Gadolinium Toxicity, see https://www.cutterlaw.com/Dangerous-Drugs/Gadolinium-Toxicity. For Chuck Norris’ article about the FDA hearing, see: http://www.wnd.com/2017/09/is-the-fda-ready-to-jump-in-the-ring-with-me.