Januvia Linked To Pancreatic Cancer

The New York Times reports that Merck, which makes sitagliptin (Januvia, Janumet, Janumet XR, Juvisync), is in the midst of facing 43 personal injury lawsuits.

The lawsuits allege that Januvia caused pancreatic cancer. There are other pharmaceutical companies that are also facing legal action regarding the same class of drugs. Byetta allegedly harmed many patients as is evidenced by the more than 100 lawsuits citing it as the cause of various injuries, which largely center around pancreatitis.

The US Food and Drug Administration issued a statement in April saying that it is “evaluating unpublished new findings by a group of academic researchers that suggest an increased risk of pancreatitis, or inflammation of the pancreas, and pre-cancerous cellular changes called pancreatic duct metaplasia in patients with type 2 diabetes treated with a class of drugs called incretin mimetics.” But Dr. Peter C. Butler says that information is not entirely new. Dr. Butler was the lead investigator in the precursor study that prompted the FDA review, and he is also chief of the division of endocrinology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He says he could tell something was amiss back in 2008 after concluding the first studies for Merck on Januvia, so he continued to investigate.

Dr. Butler’s findings in those initial tests have prompted him to undertake further studies. The initial tests uncovered evidence of changes in the pancreases of the rats undergoing the testing. These changes could possibly lead to pancreatic cancer. In the studies that have followed, Dr. Butler has gotten results which indicate that these issues might extend to other drugs as well in the same class as Januvia. This includes the aforementioned Byetta, and other drugs like Victza, Janumet, Janumet XR, Juvisync, Onglyza, Kombiglyze XR, Nesina, Kazano, Oseni, Tradjenta, Jentadueto. Dr. Butler explained to The New York Times that “I knew some stuff that I thought was a worry and I was obliged to pursue it.”

The data is not conclusive at this point but there is a meeting scheduled for June by the National Institutes of Health to review the findings of the various studies and explore the possible links between diabetes, diabetes drugs, and pancreatic cancer. After the meeting in June there should be more information available and Dr. Butler plans to present his own findings and research.

If you have experienced side effects and complications similar to those described in this article, after taking medication as treatment for diabetes, you should contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible. As new studies are done and more information becomes available, it becomes evident that some of the drugs meant to improve our lives are actually causing more, potentially serious problems. And if a drug manufacturer fails to monitor these risks and notify potential users of the drug that there are risks to taking these medications, they should be held responsible. Finding a personal injury attorney who can assess your case for free and help you to determine whether you can hold a drug maker liable for any injuries you sustained as a result of taking their drug, is the very first step.

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photo credit: e-MagineArt.com