The litigation over AstraZeneca’s Type 2 diabetes medication Byetta is still ongoing. The biopharmaceutical drug giant reported that there are 400 Byetta lawsuits pending in state and federal courts across the United States.
Patients who have been prescribed Byetta are arguing in their complaints that the company failed to warn them of the dangers of using the drug. Patients have developed pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer and thyroid cancer in response to the drug.
The 400 lawsuits that are still pending have been consolidated into a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the Southern District of California. The lawsuits are so similar, the MDL will decrease the amount of time that the cases take.
Pancreatic cancer has been attributed to the class of diabetes medications that includes Byetta, Januvia, Janumet and Victoza. They are also alleged to increase the risk of pancreatitis and may also increase the risk of thyroid cancer. The complaints state that the companies failed to properly warn doctors and patients about the dangerous side effects in this class of diabetes medications.
These drugs belong to a class of drugs called incretin mimetic and share sufficient similarities that plaintiffs who have been prescribed any of these diabetes medications are alleging similar symptoms and similar conditions. Which is why all of the drugmakers who produce those medications have all been sued.
Byetta is a diabetes medication introduced in 2005 and patients are required to inject it twice a day. In addition to the pancreatic cancer lawsuits, AstraZeneca is also facing 55 Byetta lawsuits that are arguing the medication causes thyroid cancer in patients.
Peterson & Associates, P.C. is a successful drug litigation law firm that serves clients across the whole United States.
