Agustin Martinez, as successor-in-interest of the estate of Odilia Martinez, filed a Byetta wrongful death lawsuit against Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk for allegedly causing the pancreatic cancer of Mrs. Martinez, which took her life.

According to the Byetta lawsuit, Mrs. Martinez used Byetta from Feb. 2, 2012 to April 27, 2012. She also ingested Victoza from June 14, 2012 to Sept. 15, 2012. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on Aug. 27, 2012 and died on Nov 19. 2012.

The lawsuit alleges that defendant companies failed to warn Odilia of the possible side effects of both Byetta and Victoza.

Overview of Byetta Complications

Byetta was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April 2005 to treat type-2 diabetes. The medication was designed to help regulate blood sugar levels by helping control the level of insulin the body produces. Byetta is a part of a drug family that was approved by the FDA to treat type-2 diabetes called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor (GLP-1R) agonists. Ideally, with healthy diet and exercise, a type-2 diabetes patient could live a normal lifestyle, and not worry about their diabetic condition cutting their life short.

Byetta and other GLP-1R drugs have come under legal fire due to the growing number of injury reports indicating that they could possibly cause pancreatic cancer. According to a recent study which used data from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS), the use of Byetta had a high correlation with patients who later developed pancreatic cancer and thyroid cancer. The primary goal of this study was to learn if there was an increased risk of pancreatic cancer associated with Byetta when compared to other type-2 diabetes medications.

Despite the scientific evidence indicating a possible link to pancreatic cancer, the defendants have chose to aggressively advertise Byetta without properly describing the side effects. Byetta is one of the best selling drugs in the country with $710 million in sales in 2010, and is projected to climb up to $1 billion by 2015.

Overview of Victoza Complications

Victoza was released to the public in Jan. 25, 2010 and is manufactured by Novo Nordisk. Victoza is meant to help regulate the body’s blood sugar levels and insulin production. Despite only being recently introduced to the market, Victoza has become very successful in the United States, earning $1.044 billion in the fiscal year of 2011 alone.

Unfortunately, it has become a health concern over the fact that Victoza may possibly cause same patients to develop pancreatic cancer. The concern has grown that there are now several health advocacy groups petitioning to the FDA, to have Victoza removed from the market.

On June 13, 2011, the FDA issued a public warning announcing that Victoza’s active ingredient, liraglutide, had caused some serious adverse side effects in mice, as well as mentioning that Victoza was shown to cause some cases of pancreatitis. This condition is considered the primary gateway condition to pancreatic cancer, making it a major health concern.

This Byetta and Victoza lawsuit is Agustin Martinez, Individually and as Successor-In-Interest of The Estate of Odilla Martinez, Deceased v. Amylin Pharmaceuticals LLC, Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk Inc., Case No. 3:14-CV-00732-AJB-MDD, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.