Byetta May Cause More Severe Forms of Pancreatitis
Of the six patients, two died, while the other four recovered. Byetta was discontinued as a treatment for these patients.
Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the manufacturere of Byetta is cooperating with the FDA and will add bolder warnings on the label for Byetta, warning about the risk of acute hemorrhagic, or necrotizing pancreatis.
According to the FDA the warning signs of pancreatitis include: persistent severe abdominal pain that can radiate to the back and may be accompanied by nausea and vomiting. Acute pancreatitis is typically confirmed by the presence of elevated levels of serum amylase and/or lipase and characteristic findings by radiological imaging.
The FDA also recommends that Byetta should be discontinued if pancreatitis is suspected.
Read more about Byetta and pancreatitis from the FDA website.
Comments
Thanks for the reminder. Most physicians don’t know about this association yet. It’s often difficult to know if associations like this are a coincidence versus causally related.
After 30 post-marketing cases of pancreatitis were reported to the FDA, the FDA “asked” the drug maker to add the warning to the package insert.