It’s never been easy on a patient who, in an attempt to heal one health issue ends up developing another. If you read the reviews and news reports concerning Tepezza, you’ll realize this is what most patients have been facing and suffering from.
Tepezza is a standard medicine prescribed by doctors to treat TED (Thyroid Eye Disease). In this condition, the patient develops inflammation and swelling around the eyes. A few symptoms that accompany this health condition are pressure behind your eye, blurred vision, and bulging eyes. Sometimes, the eyes are sensitive to light and at other times they get excessively wet or dry.
Even though the medical community has been recommending patients to use Tepezza to relieve this condition, the side effects have proven to be otherwise. Unfortunately, patients who have used this medicine have reported hearing loss or issues, eventually. While for some the symptoms subsided after they stopped taking the medicine, for others it persisted and even caused permanent hearing loss.
Hence, it all boils down to one question: should you use Tepezza to treat TED? The answer based on the negative reports and increasing number of lawsuits is a straight yes, but it is necessary to look deep into the matter. In this article, we will delve deep into the topic, so that you can arrive at an informed decision.
Can Tepezza Result in Hearing Issues?
Tepezza is administered intravenously through eight infusion treatments. The patient needs to take it once every three weeks. The medicine works by blocking the IGF-1R receptor, which minimizes muscle and tissue swelling. Even though the patients found ample relief after using the medicine, little were they aware of the dangers that come along with it.
The insulin-like growth factor receptors are essential for maintaining and securing healthy hearing. Reducing it results in symptoms such as increased sensitivity, muffled hearing, the presence of liquid in your eyes, hearing your voice echo, and permanent or temporary hearing loss.
In the beginning, Tepezza didn’t provide any warning on its label about these risks. The label was updated by the FDA only in July 2023, after the first Tepezza hearing loss lawsuit against this drugmaker was filed by Daniel Wiebel.
The drugmaker, Horizon Therapeutics USA Inc. issued a press release in 2022 and stated that their clinical trials observed problems in only 10% of patients. Most of the side effects were mild to moderate and in most cases moderate.
But because there’s already proof and anecdotal accounts about the medicine causing hearing loss, it’s best to exercise caution.
Recent Findings on Tepezza
A study named ‘Increased Risk of Hearing Impairment with New Thyroid Eye Disease Treatment” which was presented in 2021 at an Endocrine Society annual meeting found that the rate has a chance to be 65%. That certainly does raise alarm.
Apart from that, a few crucial findings from various independent studies made on Tepezza share the following:
- A 50-year-old woman suffered from tinnitus after taking three doses of Tepezza. After five doses, she witnessed hearing loss and there wasn’t any improvement shown after she stopped using the medicine.
- A study done by the American Journal of Ophthalmology in 2022 found that close to 81.5% of the members developed any new hearing issue after taking 3.5 infusions of this medicine.
- A study in 2023 claims that close to 32% of the patients who used Tepezza had complained of hearing issues, congenital abnormalities, and ear injuries.
Therefore, you have enough reasons to exercise caution before saying yes to Tepezza. Perhaps it’s a smart decision to check out if there are any alternatives or not. A few include selenium supplements and lifestyle changes, for instance, consuming a healthy diet and not smoking. If the problem is mild, patients can make use of eye patches, drops, and sometimes dark sunglasses.
Taking a Legal Action
Now that you are aware that Tepezza can lead to permanent hearing loss, you should know how to exercise your legal options if you suffer after using the medicine. The lawsuits filed so far allege that the drugmaker was aware of the dangers of this medicine and yet didn’t alert the users and medical community.
TorHoerman Law states that if you have experienced hearing issues and loss after using Tepezza and have similar concerns, get in touch with a lawyer to share your case. They will let you know whether you qualify to file a lawsuit. They will arrange the medical data and other evidence in a way to make sure that you get your compensation to recover all the economic and non-economic damages.
In conclusion, if you are suffering from TED and you have seen all the commercials that call Tepezza a wonder drug, you need to be careful before you believe in it all. The advertisements don’t mention any of the health and hearing risks connected with Tepezza. Therefore, make sure you speak with a medical expert before deciding whether you should use the medicine.
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