FDA Warning: Byetta is Linked To Pancreatitis and Death

Filed in archive News , Notable , Treatment on August 18, 2008

byetta (exenatide) injection - the first incretin mimetic for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in adults has now been linked to 6 cases of hemorrhagic or necrotizing pancreatitis as reported to the FDA.

The FDA wrote as a warning to endocrinologists, other healthcare professionals and consumers:

Byetta and other potentially suspect drugs should be promptly discontinued if pancreatitis is suspected. There are no signs or symptoms that distinguish acute hemorrhagic or necrotizing pancreatitis associated with Byetta from the less severe form of pancreatitis.

If pancreatitis is confirmed, initiate appropriate treatment and carefully monitor the patient until recovery. Byetta should not be restarted. Consider antidiabetic therapies other than Byetta in patients with a history of pancreatitis

Byetta is a product of Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company.

Just when we thought that a wonderful treatment such as Byetta is available for diabetes patients in efficiently regulating blood sugar levels, reports such as this comes out. Sometimes I feel that each and everyone of us are at the mercy of drug makers and regulating bodies.

What now? Are we going to see Byetta phased out of the market? Or will this warning remain just as that, an FDA warning?

One thing is for sure, acute pancreatitis is deadly. But if we come to think of it, nothing really is 'safe' out there.