Anais Gutierrez
Actor Chuck Norris is suing a medical company he alleges poisoned his wife Gena Norris. Norris filed the lawsuit on Wednesday, in which he claims his wife was left debilitating after being injected with gadolinium.
The Norris are seeking over $10 million in damages and are part of a group of people suing against manufacturers of gadolinium contrasts agents for failing to warn consumers.
Chuck Norris vs the farmaceutical industry
Action star Chuck Norris’ latest fight is a medical one, against medical device manufacturers and the chemicals used in MRI imaging scans he alleges have poisoned his wife. Norris filed a lawsuit against McKesson Corp in San Francisco Superior Court on Wednesday, alleging Gena was poisoned by a chemical used in MRI imaging scans.
Gena claims she’s been “to hell and back” over the last five years after being injected with gadolinium, a medical dye, during a series of MRI scans in 2012.
“I went in for a routine MRI, checking for a positive rheumatoid factor and during that time I was actually given three MRIS in the course of eight days,” she said. Gena Norris said she asked the medical staff if the use of Gadolinium was safe and “they said yes.”
“I started to feel the effects immediately, not connecting anything,” she said. “After the third scan, I was definitely noticing that something was wrong. it started out with this intense burning inside my body that I can’t describe like someone has poured acid on your tissues.”
The Norris are seeking over $10 million in damages to cover the millions of dollars they’ve spent on treatment for Gena.
Gadolinium is used in contrast agents for MRI imaging. Gadolinium-based contrast agents are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, that published a report in May saying that they have “not identified adverse health effects from gadolinium” in the brain or other body tissues.
The European Medicines Agency reached the same conclusion in July. However, they both recommend health care professionals limit the use of gadolinium contrast agents.
While the Norris’ lawsuit acknowledges that studies haven’t found an official link between gadolinium and Gena’s symptoms, it also points out that’s only because blood and urine testing for gadolinium were only recently available and doctors were previously unaware of any association with other conditions.
“One of the problems is this is a very misdiagnosed and underdiagnosed condition,” said Todd Walburg, an attorney for the Norris’. Cutter Law, the firm representing the Norris, has filed several lawsuits in recent weeks on behalf of people who are also suffering gadolinium poisoning.
Roughly 500 lawsuits have been lodged against medical companies in the San Francisco area alone regarding gadolinium poisoning, though the Norris family has begun the most high-profile case so far.
Several manufacturers of gadolinium contrast agents are also accused in the lawsuit of knowing about the risks but failing to warn consumer. Including the diagnostics and imaging unit of Italian healthcare company Bracco S.p.A., and ACIST Medical Systems Inc.
“I am broken, I don’t blame the doctors at all, because (companies) have been keeping things hidden in the shadows … I never wanted litigation. But it’s wrong. It’s just wrong,” Gena said.
Gena Norris still remembers when it all started
Gena Norris opened up about the moment that started her health downfall. Back in 2012, doctors injected Gena with gadolinium for three MRI scans that she received over eight days.
“I started to feel the effects immediately, not connecting anything,” she said. Over the course of the next few weeks, she made six ER visits and had three hospitalizations. “With each new visit, the burning was spreading,” Gena said.
“I am a healthy woman — I’m the lady on the ‘Total Gym’ infomercials next to him. I’ve been fit all my life. So to have anything happen to me like this it was a nightmare,” she added. “They poisoned the wrong lady when they poisoned me.”
Gadolinium is “safe” according to the FDA and the RSN
Not only the FDA says gadolinium-based contrast agents are safe, but also does the Radiological Society of North America.
“Gadolinium-based contrast agents have been used for diagnosis and treatment guidance in more than 100 million patients worldwide over the past 25 years” and provide “crucial, life-saving medical data,” read the according to the statement issued last September by the Radiological Society of North America.
“These agents enhance the quality of MRI images by altering the magnetic properties of nearby water molecules in the body.”
“By improving the visibility of specific organs, blood vessels or tissues, contrast agents help physicians diagnose and treat a wide variety of medical conditions” such as cancer, infections, or bleeding.”
Source: CBS
