The type-2 diabetes drugs Onglyza and Kombiglyze have been around since 2009 and 2010 respectively. Both drugs use an active ingredient known as saxagliptin, which is a DPP-4 inhibitor, meant to reduce DPP-4, which breaks down GLP-1, a hormone that is created after eating in order to promote the pancreas to produce insulin. The manufacturers of these two drugs list some side effects, such as a sore throat, upper respiratory infection, vomiting, stomach pain, and headache. However, there may be much more serious side-effects, as one woman’s lawsuit contends. The Pittsburgh Legal Examiner reports.
According to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Kentucky, a woman is blaming the prescription drug Onglyza for causing her to develop serious side effects, including heart failure and congestive heart failure.
The plaintiff’s attorneys contend that she began taking Kombliglyze XR, which is a combination of the drugs Onglyza and metformin HCL, in December 2011. She continued taking the medication through July 2018.
She is seeking in excess of $75,000 in damages.
The plaintiff claims that the manufacturers of Kombiglyze, Bristol-Myers Squbb, failed to follow the suggestion of the Food & Drug Administration to conduct further studies to see if there was any risk of cardiovascular complications.
It was only after both Onglyza and Kombiglyze were on the market that the drug makers conducted the trials suggested by the FDA. The trials indicated that the medication was linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular incident.
These findings were reported to the FDA, who recommended that the drug makers place a warning about the risk of cardiovascular side-effects. This was only done in April of 2016.
The plaintiff alleges that the makers of the drug overpromoted their medications while down playing the potential side effects.
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