Neurology Expert Discuss Tardive Dyskinesia After Prescription Drug Use

Case Overview

This case involves patients who suffered complications following administration of a commonly used gastrointestinal treatment. The plaintiffs were collectively patients at an in-patient treatment facility for several months, during which time they were administered the drug regularly. Over time, the patients began to display symptoms of Tardive Dyskinesia, however these symptoms were not thoroughly investigated by the treatment facility staff. As a result, the patients continued to receive regular doses of the drug, causing severe and progressively worsening symptoms. As a result, many of the patients are now totally incapacitated and unable to work or live on their own.

Questions to the Neurology expert and their responses

Do you have experience with tardive dyskinesia?

I am an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Neurology with extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of tardive dyskinesia using both medication and neurotoxin interventions in an academic setting.

Have you ever come across a patient who suffered tardive dyskinesia while taking metoclopramide?

I have seen a number of patients with tardive dyskinesias from the use of this drug.

Have you ever reviewed a similar case in the past?

I ran the movement disorders and botulinum toxin injection clinics at Bellevue Hospital for 8 years and the movement clinic at the Manhattan VA for a year. Both sites have large populations of patients with psychiatric illness and hence movement practice there involves a particularly large number of patients with tardive dyskinesia.

About the expert

This expert is board certified in neurology and has been practicing for 15+ years. She completed her internship training at St Vincent's Hospital and her residency training at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. She also concluded fellowships at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital and at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. She is a member of multiple academic and professional associations, including the American Academy of Neurology and the Movement Disorder Society. Her outstanding work has earned her several honors and she lectures both nationally and internationally. She is the former director of the Behavioral Neurology Clinic at both Bellevue Hospital and VA NY Harbor Healthcare. She is also the former director of the Cognitive and Emotional Neurophysiology Laboratory at NYU/Bellevue. Currently, she works as a neurohospitalist specializing in movement disorders at a major health center and as a professor of neurology at a major university in New York.