A Kentucky woman filed a Byetta pancreatic cancer lawsuit against Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly & Co. alleging the wrongful death of her husband was related to his use of Byetta.

Plaintiff Linda C. Plano alleged in her Byetta lawsuit that her husband Francis was a type-2 diabetes patient, and had been prescribed Byetta in 2009, and stayed on it until he learned of its association with pancreatic cancer in 2012.

Despite ceasing the medication, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2013. He died a few months later.

In addition to her husband’s death, Plano’s Byetta lawsuit said she has been left with massive medical bills and other expenses. Her lawsuit will be joining the multidistrict litigation over Byetta side effects, in which numerous other plaintiffs make similar allegations.

Plano said in the Byetta lawsuit that her husband never would have taken the drug if he had known about the side effects. There were reportedly no warnings or indications about pancreatic cancer on the drug’s label at the time of his prescription. The Byetta pancreatic cancer lawsuit accuses Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly & Co. of negligence, false advertising, concealing information, and misrepresenting a product.

The Byetta Pancreatic Cancer MDL is In Re: Incretin-Based Therapies Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2452, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Overview of Byetta

Byetta is one of the leading type-2 diabetic treatment drugs, with the purpose of helping patients contend with their diabetic symptoms. Byetta is also one of the most popularly prescribed drugs in the United States. Byetta was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April 2005, and is manufactured by pharmaceuticals giants Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly & Co.

Byetta is a member of the drug family called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) inhibitors, which are type-2 diabetes therapy drugs with the sole purpose of balancing the body’s blood sugar and insulin levels. Statistics gathered from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) indicates that Byetta and other type-2 diabetes drugs may also cause pancreatitis, a common condition that could lead to pancreatic cancer.