MultiHance by Bracco Diagnostics
MultiHance is a pharmaceutical product made by Bracco Diagnostics. Specifically, it is a contrasting agent that helps give doctors clear pictures of tissue and tissue abnormalities in the body during imaging scans. Healthcare professionals often inject MultiHance or a similar contrasting agent into a patient’s bloodstream before an imaging scan in order to have clearer pictures of a scan. In most healthy patients, the active ingredient in MultiHance, Gadolinium, is flushed out by the kidneys. In patients with kidney problems, however, the Gadolinium remains in the body. The result is sometimes the onset of Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF), or nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy (NFD), an incurable and sometimes fatal ailment. The FDA now requires all contrasting agents containing Gadolinium to have warning labels about the risk of NSF, but this has not stopped lawsuits aimed at Bracco Diagnostics and other manufacturers of contrasting agents.
The FDA approved Multihance in 2004 for use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the central nervous system in adults. However, the FDA subsequently published reports about the risk of NSF and MultiHance. Also, while MultiHance is approved for MRI only, some healthcare professionals use the product in other imaging scans or in doses greater than suggested by Bracco Diagnostics. This often makes NSF lawsuits rather complicated as responsibility for patient illness is hard to pinpoint.
Bracco Diagnostics is part of the Milan-based healthcare giant Bracco Group. Bracco Diagnostics itself is based in Princeton, New Jersey. Bracco Diagnostics has emerged as one of the fastest growing makers of diagnostic products in North America.
