A West Virginia widow is suing multiple pharmaceutical companies for the wrongful death of her husband. She alleges that as a direct result of ingesting the diabetes medications Byetta, Januvia, Janumet, and Victoza, her husband developed and later died from pancreatic cancer.

Through the years between January 2010 and November 2012, plaintiff Patricia Pingley’s husband had been prescribed these four incretin medications to help manage his type-2 diabetes symptoms. Her husband followed physician’s instructions and was careful to adhere to the drugs’ warning labels.  For almost three years he was prescribed the following medications for his diabetic condition: Byetta, Januvia, Janumet, and Victoza.

At the time of his prescription, neither Pingley nor her husband was aware that these medications had been linked to causing pancreatic cancer. Her husband was diagnosed with cancer in February 2012, but used the diabetes medications through his death on Nov. 22, 2012.  Neither he nor his wife was aware of this correlation until an announcement was made by U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to the diabetes drug lawsuit.

The diabetes drug lawsuit is joining multidistrict litigation (MDL), where hundreds of other diabetes drug lawsuits have been consolidated. The diabetes drug cancer MDL is a group litigation in which numerous individual cases are consolidated and placed in a single jurisdiction. This adds to the pile of similar lawsuits against the following manufacturing companies: Amylin Pharmaceuticals, LLC, Eli Lilly and Company, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Novo Nordisk Inc. Each of these manufacturing companies created one or more of the diabetes drugs that Pingley’s husband and other victims had ingested when they developed pancreatic cancer.

Pingley alleges that there were no warnings or precautions on any of the drugs’ labels, and that none of the defendant companies made any effort to notify her or her husband. Pingley asserts that these manufacturing companies had the responsibility to warn them of these side effects, because they were relying on the accuracy of the given information. Pingley insists that her husband never would have taken the drugs if he had known about the possibility of pancreatic cancer.

The diabetes drug cancer MDL is In Re: Incretin-Based Therapies Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2452, in the United States District Court of Southern California.

Overview of Pancreatic Cancer from Diabetes Drugs

Each of the drugs named in the lawsuit are a part of a drug family called incretin mimetics. These medications are used to treat type-2 diabetes by mimicking the incretin hormones the body produces to release insulin. Ideally, these medications would be used to help the patient control their diabetic side effects, and help maintain a healthier and longer life. The following incretin medications mentioned in this MDL are listed below:

• Byetta (exenatide): First incretin mimetic to be approved by the FDA in 2005, and is manufactured by Amylin Pharmaceuticals in 2005.
• Januvia (sitagliptin): Second incretin mimetic to be introduced in 2006, and is manufactured by Merck & Co.
• Janumet (sitagliptin): The little brother of Januvia, was introduced in 2007, and is also manufactured by Merck & Co.
• Victoza (liraglutide): The latest incretin mimetic to be introduced, was approved in 2010, and is manufactured by Novo Nordisk.

According to Merck & Co., Januvia and Janumet are among the best-selling medications in the world, earning approximately $4 billion in sales last year. Victoza sales were about $1.8 billion last year for Novo Nordisk, while Byetta reportedly earned $149 million for Amylin.

As of now, the reason for the occurrence of pancreatic cancer is unknown, but the side effect is apparent, according to the FDA and numerous scientific studies.