As Byetta Lawsuits Move Forward, Bernstein Liebhard LLP Notes New FDA Review of Additional Incretin Mimetic Diabetes Drugs

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Onglyza is just one of several incretin mimetics, including Byetta, Januvia and Victoza that have been named in product liability lawsuits that allege the drugs caused pancreatic cancer, pancreatitis or thyroid cancer.

New York, New York (PRWEB) February 13, 2014

As Byetta lawsuits (http://www.byettalawsuit.com) and other legal claims involving incretin mimetic drugs continue to move forward in U.S. courts, Bernstein Liebhard LLP notes that U.S. health regulators have launched a safety review of two other medications in that class due to concerns over a possible association with heart failure. According to a Drug Safety Communication issued by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on February 11, 2014, the review was launched after a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) found a slight increase in hospitalization for heart failure among patients who took Onglyza. As part of its review, the FDA has asked the manufacturer of Onglyza and Kombiglyze XR (a combination of Onglyza and metformin) to submit clinical trial data to the agency by March.*

“Onglyza is just one of several incretin mimetics, including Byetta, Januvia and Victoza that have been named in product liability lawsuits that allege the drugs caused pancreatic cancer, pancreatitis or thyroid cancer. This FDA review just serves to remind that this class of Type 2 diabetes medications may be associated with a number of potentially serious side effects,” says Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing victims of defective drugs and medical devices. The Firm is currently offering free legal evaluations to patients who may have been harmed by Byetta or other incretin mimetics.

Byetta Lawsuits
According to court documents, dozens of lawsuits alleging an association between diabetes drugs like Byetta and pancreatic cancer have been filed in a consolidated litigation underway in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California. All of the lawsuits similarly allege that the manufacturers of incretin mimetics failed to provide adequate warnings to patients and doctors regarding their potentially harmful effects on the pancreas. (In Re: Incretins Products Liability, Sales and Marketing Litigation, MDL 2452)

Court records further indicate that plaintiffs in Byetta lawsuits who allegedly developed thyroid cancer due to its use are also seeking to have those claims consolidated in the Southern District of California. According to a petition filed with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) on January 28, 2014, at least 35 such actions have been filed in federal courts around the U.S. (In re Byetta Thyroid Cancer Products Liability Litigation, No. 8 (JPML)*

Additional Byetta lawsuits have been filed in a consolidated proceeding underway in California Superior Court. According to court documents, the first trial in that litigation will begin on February 18, 2014, and will involve a Byetta lawsuit that alleges the drug caused pancreatitis. (In re: Byetta Cases, JCCP No. 4574)

The litigation involving Byetta and other incretin mimetics has been growing since March 2013, after the FDA launched an investigation of their potential association with pancreatic cancer. Though the FDA has so far been unable to conclude that such an association does exist, its review is ongoing.

In April 2013, the Institute for Safe Medicine Practices reported in that the FDA had received 263 reports of pancreatitis, 71 cases of pancreatic cancer, and 14 incidents of thyroid cancer among patients taking Byetta during a single 12-month period. The group also reported that compared to other classes of diabetes drugs, incretin mimetics were far more likely to be associated with pancreatic cancer.**

Individuals who may have developed pancreatic cancer, pancreatitis or thyroid cancer due to their use of Byetta or another incretin mimetic may be entitled to compensation from the manufacturers of these medications. To learn more about the litigation involving this class of diabetes drugs, please visit Bernstein Liebhard LLP’s website. For a free legal review, please call 800-511-5092.

*fda.gov/safety/medwatch/safetyinformation/safetyalertsforhumanmedicalproducts/ucm385471.htm, FDA, February 11, 2014
**ismp.org/quarterwatch/pdfs/2012Q3.pdf, ISMP, April 2013

About Bernstein Liebhard LLP
Bernstein Liebhard LLP is a New York-based law firm exclusively representing injured persons in complex individual and class action lawsuits nationwide since 1993, including those who have been harmed by dangerous drugs, defective medical devices and consumer products. The firm has been named by The National Law Journal to the “Plaintiffs’ Hot List,” recognizing the top plaintiffs’ firms in the country, for the past 11 consecutive years.

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Bernstein Liebhard LLP
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