Onglyza, a medication used to treat type-2 diabetes, has been linked with the development of pancreatic cancer in some patients. Pancreatic cancer and other Onglyza side effects may increase the risk of death or injury, when the medication was supposed to help diabetes patients live a more normal life.

What is Onglyza?

Onglyza (also known as generic saxagliptin) was approved as a type-2 diabetes treatment in 2009. This diabetes medication belongs to a relatively new class of drugs known as incretin mimetics, which work by stimulating the production of insulin in a patient’s pancreas in order to help regulate blood sugar levels. Incretin mimetics like Onglyza gained popularity after an older diabetes drug, known as Avandia, was recalled due to reports that linked this drug to increased cardiac arrest deaths.

After Avandia’s recall, doctors and pharmaceutical companies began looking for safer type-2 diabetes treatments. Incretin mimetic drugs like Onglyza seemed promising in terms of safety and efficiency. Unfortunately, according to recent news, it appears that Onglyza is not as safe as originally thought. Recent studies and consumer reports point to some serious Onglyza side effects, including pancreatic cancer, heart failure, and thyroid cancer.

Risk of Onglyza Pancreatic Cancer

Back in 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced an investigation into reports of Onglyza pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. The FDA announcement came on the heels of an incretin mimetic study published in the March 2013 edition of Diabetes medical journal. According to the 2013 study, researchers found a strong connection between the use of Onglyza (or other drugs in its class) and an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

This incretin mimetic study analyzed autopsy reports from 20 individuals who suffered from diabetes, eight of whom had taken an incretin mimetic drug like Onglyza. According to the study results, patients who had taken Onglyza or a drug in its class had pancreases that were about 40 percent larger than normal. These same incretin mimetic diabetes patients demonstrated a 6-fold increase of beta cells in their pancreas, as well precancerous cell growth and small tumors.

Similarly, Johns Hopkins researchers announced in February 2013 that in studying diabetics who were hospitalized for pancreatitis, they discovered that these patients were twice as likely to be on an incretin mimetic type-2 diabetes treatment like Onglyza.

Onglyza Litigation

Patients who took Onglyza and suffered a complication like pancreatic cancer, pancreatitis, thyroid cancer, or heart attack may want to consider bringing an Onglyza lawsuit against the drug’s manufacturer.