Retrospective Evidence a Dangerous Sign

When reviewing medical journals and studies on the safety of various medications and procedures, it is common to come across the word “retrospective.” Retrospective means looking back or dealing with past events. In the case of medical literature, it means reviewing incidents that have already taken place to look for patterns or indications of certain treatments being linked with certain side effects over time.

There are certain words “retrospective” is often linked within medical journals, including:

• Retrospective study
• Retrospective evaluation
• Retrospective review

Though the words may change slightly, the meaning is almost always the same. A medical device or medication has been approved for use, and researchers are now evaluating actual cases of it being prescribed to patients to determine whether side effects or dangers were missed during the development and evaluation phases.

In theory this means making sure that dangerous drugs do not remain on the market after they have been cleared for use. In reality it means that medical researchers recognize that many dangerous drugs are on the market that must be continually evaluated because the profit margin for taking shortcuts in the development and evaluation phases is strong.

Gadolinium based contrast agents are simply the newest substance to receive retrospective review, only to discover that the risks of use were much higher than indicated. Multiple studies have now revealed that Gadolinium builds up in tissue after MRI use, being particularly susceptible to building up in the brain. This buildup has been implicated in a syndrome with a variety of side effects, including brain fog, joint pain, and headache.

If you or someone you love has suffered any of these side effects after Gadolinium exposure, determining whether or not the Gadolinium played a role can be difficult. Please consider consulting with an experienced attorney regarding your case.