Teva, Par in lawsuit over Parkinson's drug

NEW YORK A patient has filed a lawsuit against two drug companies alleging that a Parkinson’s disease and restless leg syndrome drug she took caused her to develop heart disease.

Leigh Ann Karnell says that Teva Pharmaceuticals’ and Par Pharmaceutical’s generic pergolide caused her valvular heart disease, and that the companies misrepresented the drug’s safety and efficacy.

The drug is a generic version of Permax, a drug by Valeant derived from ergot fungus that the company withdrew last March when studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine two months before showed that it increased the chance of heart damage compared with other drugs for Parkinson’s. Teva and Par withdrew the generic versions of the drug as well.

Karnell has asked for more than $75,000 in damages, as well as refunds and costs related to the litigation.