The June 8, 2017 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has a “To the Editor” letter, titled “Risk of Diabetic Ketoacidosis after Initiation of an SGLT2 Inhibitor”, which is likely causing some concerns among doctors and type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients. It is about the safety of Jardiance, Invokana, Farxiga, and other diabetes medicines in the SGLT2 inhibitor class of diabetes drugs.
A June 7, 2017 MedPage Today article, “Study Warns of Diabetic Ketoacidosis With SGLT2 Inhibitors in T2D”, provides a summary and some commentary about the recent medical study which is described in this June 2017 NEJM letter to the editor:
The newest class of drugs for treating type 2 diabetes carries a greater risk for diabetic ketoacidosis compared to other classes of drugs, a new study suggests.
Newly initiated use of an SGLT2 inhibitor was associated with a roughly twofold greater risk of diabetic ketoacidosis versus new initiation of a DPP4 inhibitor (HR 2.2, 95% CI 1.4 to 3.6), according to Michael Fralick, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and colleagues….
It is important to know that if diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is not treated, it can lead to severe illness or death. In more detail, possible complications of DKA include these medical conditions:
- Cerebral Edema (fluid buildup in the brain)
- Bowel Necrosis (death of bowel tissue due to low blood pressure)
All of these newer diabetes medicines are part of the Sodium-Glucose Co-Transporter-2 (SGLT2) Inhibitors class of drugs:
Invokana (canagliflozin)
Invokamet (canagliflozin and metformin)
Invokamet XR (canagliflozin and metformin extended-release)
Farxiga (dapagliflozin)
Xigduo XR (dapagliflozin and metformin extended-release)
Qtern (dapagliflozin and saxagliptin)
Jardiance (empagliflozin)
Glyxambi (empagliflozin and linagliptin)
Synjardy (empagliflozin and metformin hydrochloride)
Synjardy XR (empagliflozin and metformin hydrochloride)
We are currently investigating possible drug injury lawsuits against the responsible pharmaceutical companies for diabetes patients who have developed diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), with or without cerebral edema and bowel necrosis.
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