Plaintiff Says Raptiva Caused Him to Develop Hodgkin's Disease

HOUSTON - A Texas man who says his Hodgkin's Disease was caused by the psoriasis drug Raptiva has sued Genentech Inc. and XOMA (US) LLC in federal court, accusing the drug makers of failing to warn that continuous use of the drug could cause serious injury. Massa v. Genentech Inc., et al., No. 11-00070 (S.D. Texas).

The Jan. 7 complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, says Genentech and XOMA marketed Raptiva as save for "continuous treatment," despite their knowledge that long-term immunosuppression "increases the likelihood of serious life-threatening infections, neurological complications, lymphomas, malignancies …