We have helped to secure more than $80 billion in jury verdicts and settlements since 1955.
The Gadolinium lawsuit claims that patients can suffer gadolinium toxicity after undergoing an MRI scan that uses Linear Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents.
Our law firm is no longer accepting Gadolinium clients.
We have been handling lawsuits against drug companies since 1955. Each year we teach 1,500 attorneys how to successfully handle these cases. We are listed in Best Lawyers in America and The National Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame.
During the period 2008 – 2015, more than 1,000 lawsuits were filed against the manufacturers of Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents (GBCA). These lawsuits involved patients who experienced Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis injuries after undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or a magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) scan that used GBCA.
When these lawsuits occurred, healthcare providers were told that only patients with renal and kidney issues could suffer injuries from the use of gadolinium-based contrast agents. This has proven to be wrong. Severe injuries have now been found in patients with normal kidney function who underwent an MRI or MRA scan where a Linear GBCA was used.
Within minutes to up to two months after having an MRI or MRA where a Linear GBCA is utilized, patients with normal kidney and renal function can develop symptoms consistent with gadolinium toxicity. The manufacturers of these GBCAs failed to warn healthcare providers of this danger until May 21, 2018.
Lawsuits are now being filed on behalf of patients who have suffered gadolinium toxicity after an MRI or MRA and who had no known kidney or renal issues before the scan.
The most serious injuries caused by the use of gadolinium-based contrast agents are Gadolinium Deposition Disease and Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis.
Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) is a debilitating and deadly disease that causes the skin to harden, and causes the patient’s joints to contract.
Symptoms of Gadolinium Deposition Disease include fibrosis in bones, organs, and skin, and retention in the neuronal nuclei of the brain. Symptoms start within minutes up to two months after an MRI or MRA where a linear gadolinium-based contrast agent was used.
Patients suffering from Gadolinium Deposition Disease (GDD) often experience chronic headaches, bone and joint pain, and clouded mental acuity. They also can experience subcutaneous soft-tissue thickening that appears somewhat spongy or rubbery. Tendons and ligaments may also become painful and have a thickened appearance.
Gadolinium toxicity pain can be excruciating, often occurring in the arms and legs. Symptoms can progress to a patient’s inability to use his/her arms, legs, hands, feet, and other joints.
Symptoms of Gadolinium Deposition Disease
Gadolinium retention and toxicity is a progressive disease. Several treatments are available if the condition is caught early, but often the disease is not curable. Gadolinium retention only occurs in patients who have received a gadolinium-based contrast agent. Gadolinium does not occur naturally in the body and there is no known environmental source.
A simple 24-hour urine test can be performed to determine whether a patient is retaining gadolinium. This test should be performed 30 days or more after the most recent GBCA administration.
If you suffered from gadolinium toxicity after having an MRI or MRA where a linear gadolinium-based contrast agent was utilized, we will be seeking the following damages for you:
Our law firm started handling personal injury cases in 1955. Today, we are recognized as a national leader in lawsuits involving drug injuries. We have received over 150 jury verdicts for $1 million or more, and have won jury verdicts and settlements in excess of $4 billion.
We are the law firm that served as co-lead plaintiffs’ counsel for the original national litigation involving the link between gadolinium-based contrast agents and Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis. This litigation settled for a large, confidential amount.
We are the founder of Mass Torts Made Perfect. This is a national conference attended by 1,500 lawyers each year where we teach how to successfully handle lawsuits against drug companies. For more information, please visit our About Us section.
Our lawyers provide free confidential case evaluations, and we never charge any fees or costs unless you first recover.
The contingency fee we charge ranges from 20% to 40%. The amount we charge is based on how much we recover for you. To review a summary of our fees and costs, click Fees & Costs.
To contact us for a free case evaluation, you can call us at (800) 277-1193. You also can request an evaluation by clicking Free & Confidential Gadolinium Evaluation Form. This form will be immediately reviewed by one of our attorneys handling the Gadolinium lawsuits.
A class action is a lawsuit where a few individuals represent the interest of many individuals. The court rulings are binding on all persons who are a part of the class action. All class members are required to accept the settlement, even if an individual is going to receive little or no compensation.
Our Gadolinium attorneys will not be pursuing class actions for our clients. Instead, we represent each client on his/her specific facts, and we evaluate each client’s damages on his/her specific facts. Each of our clients has the option of settling or not settling his/her case.
For a detailed discussion on class actions, mass torts, and multidistrict litigation, please visit our Class Action Mass Torts Page.
As of this time, there have been no large mass tort settlements involving gadolinium toxicity injuries and the link to linear gadolinium-based contrast agents. However, these specific types of injuries have just recently become publicly known. Lawsuits are now just beginning. Large groups of settlements do not generally occur until such time as a few bellwether trials occur and the manufacturers are able to more thoroughly understand their financial risk.
In 2008, hundreds of lawsuits were filed in federal court claiming Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents had caused Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) injuries in patients suffering from kidney or renal issues who then underwent an MRI. The cases were consolided before one judge in federal court in Ohio. The cases eventually settled for large sums of money, and the FDA required the manufacturers to place detailed warnings on their labels. Our law was the co-lead counsel for all plaintiffs in this litigation.
On May 21, 2018, the four manufacturers of linear Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents issued a joint warning to patients with normal kidney function. The manufacturers warned that gadolinium from linear GBCAs could remain in a patient’s body for months to years after injection. They warned that the highest concentrations of retained gadolinium were being found in a patient’s bones, followed by organs (such as the brain, skin, kidney, liver, and spleen). This occurred even with patients who had normal kidney function before having their MRI or MRA.
Patients at highest risk of gadolinium toxicity were pregnant women and pediatric patients. Healthcare providers were warned that the retention was greater when patients were injected with linear GBCA versus macrocyclic GBCA.
Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents (GBCA) are intravenous drugs injected into a patient’s vein before a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or a magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) scan to improve visualization of internal organs, blood vessels, and tissues.
GBCAs have been in use since 1988, and now are utilized in almost 40% of all MRIs. There are two types of GBCAs, linear and macrocyclic.
Linear GBCAs are less stable in terms of their tendency to release Gadolinium ions. Macrocyclic GBCAs tend to stay intact because the molecule offers better protection through stronger binding of the metal ions.
Manufacturers have claimed that linear GBCAs are supposed to quickly clear the kidneys through urine, and not impact patients with normal to near-normal kidney function. Healthcare providers have been told that GBCA has a half-life of 90 – 120 minutes in patients with normal kidney function. This has proven to be false, and the manufacturers of linear GBCA issues a joint warning in 2018 regarding the potential retention of gadolinium after the use of GBCA.
There are four main manufacturers of linear GBCA: (1) Bayer Healthcare, which produces Magnevist & Eovist; (2) GE Healthcare, which produces Omniscan; (3) Bracco Diagnositics, which produces MultiHance; and (iv) Guerbet, which produces Optimark.
Chuck and Gena Norris are suing manufacturers and distributors of a contrast agent used in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for ill effects on Gena’s health. Gena Norris is claiming that she developed Gadolinium Deposition Disease (GDD) after undergoing three contrast-enhanced MRIs in a one week period. Reported in The American Council on Science and Health
“Gadolinium deposition disease” is the name we propose for a disease process observed in subjects with normal or near normal renal function who develop persistent symptoms that arise hours to 2 months after the administration of GBCAs. In these cases, no preexistent disease or subsequently developed disease of an alternate known process is present to account for the symptoms. Reported in American Journal of Roentgenology
To date, the only known adverse health effect related to gadolinium retention is a rare condition called nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) that occurs in a small subgroup of patients with pre-existing kidney failure. We have also received reports of adverse events involving multiple organ systems in patients with normal kidney function. A causal association between these adverse events and gadolinium retention could not be established. Reported in FDA Safety Communication
The FDA is requiring a new class warning for all GBCAs about gadolinium remaining in the body for months or years after receiving the drug. Manufacturers of GBCAs must also conduct human and animal studies to further assess the safety of these contrast agents. The FDA is also requiring a patient medication guide providing educational information that every patient will be given before receiving a GBCA. Reported in FDA Brief
An FDA review to date has not identified adverse health effects from gadolinium retained in the brain after the use of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Reported in FDA Drug Safety Communication 2017
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requiring changes in the drug label for gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) to minimize the risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF), a rare, but serious, condition associated with the use of GBCAs in certain patients with kidney dysfunction. Reported in FDA Drug Safety Communication 2010
Levin Law