Varubi, an anti-nausea medication often administered with a cancer patient’s first chemotherapy treatment, has been recently linked to Varubi allergic reactions in a percentage of recipients.

These Varubi allergic reactions range from simple itching to swelling of the face and airway and full-blown anaphylactic shock.

People who seem to have the most difficulty with Varubi allergic reactions, according to a recent investigation, are those with known allergies to legumes like peanuts or similar products like soybean oil. While this is not always the case, it’s a possible reaction because the medication is concocted from soybean oil.

Varubi allergic reactions have occurred more often with the intravenous (IV) version which has only been available in the commercial marketplace since October 2017. The pill version of Varubi, developed and manufactured by Tesaro Inc., was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2015 and has been in use since that time.

The Varubi allergic reactions reported recently have come on in the first few minutes after receiving the IV injection form of the drug.

The Varubi allergic reactions experienced by patients and witnessed by medical personnel have included low blood pressure, gastrointestinal pain and cramps, constrained breathing with wheezing and/or shortness of breath, itchy skin with or without an outbreak of hives, inflammation of the throat and face, and discomfort in the chest or regions of the spine. Patients experiencing gastrointestinal allergic symptoms often have a paradoxical reaction to the anti-nausea medication by throwing up.

If Varubi allergic reactions are not brought under control, some cancer patients may go into full-blown anaphylactic shock, a life-threatening hypersensitivity situation characterized by severe drop in blood pressure, narrowed airways, and loss of consciousness.

How does Varubi Work?

Varubi—generically known as rolapitant—is often used as part of a drug cocktail of anti-nausea medications administered with an initial or subsequent treatment of chemotherapy. Varubi specifically tends to help with nausea that develops as a delayed reaction from one to five days after chemotherapy.

Varubi blocks the activity of the NK-1 receptor, a cellular protein present on brain stem region cells that play a part in initiating gastrointestinal upset and vomiting.

If Varubi works without the complications of allergic reactions, it can help remedy the chronic dehydration, malnutrition, and loss of body mass that often plague cancer patients undergoing treatment. These problems can become dangerous in and of themselves when attempting to bring cancer under remission.

While Tesaro Inc. has responded to the allergy problems with the IV injectable version by changing the package insert in concert with the FDA, issues of liability have been raised. Is Varubi essentially a defective product? Were its side effects known prior to marketing and hidden in advertising campaigns? These questions are part of a new investigation concerning this anti-nausea medication.