The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning that a certain class of diabetes medications may cause severe and debilitating joint pain.

The class of drugs, known as DPP-4 inhibitors, includes medications sold under the brand names Januvia, Onglyza, Tradjenta and Nesina, some of which have been on the market for almost ten years.

The FDA’s warning statement referenced the medications’ generic names, and noted that “the type-2 diabetes medications sitagliptin, saxagliptin, linagliptin, and alogliptin may cause joint pain that can be severe and disabling”

Diabetes Medications and Joint Pain

DPP-4 inhibitors are prescribed to type-2 diabetes patients to bring their blood sugar levels down. Now, the FDA is advising health care professionals to consider these diabetes medications as a potential cause of severe joint pain.

The FDA warning stems from a search of the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database and medical literature, which identified type 2 diabetes patients who started having severe joint pain from 1 day to several years after they began taking a DPP-4 inhibitor such as Onglyza.

The patients’ symptoms usually stopped within a month of discontinuing the drug, though some patients developed severe joint pain again when they restarted the same diabetes medication or another DPP-4 inhibitor.

The FDA says that the warning does not mean that patients should stop taking the DPP-4 inhibitor diabetes medicines. Instead, they should consult their physicians in case they experience any side effects, severe and persistent joint pain in particular.

The health care professional should then consider the effect of the DPP-4 inhibitor on severe joint pain and ask the patient to discontinue the use of the diabetes drug, if required.

Additional Side Effects

This isn’t the first time the FDA has added warnings to this class of diabetes medications. The entire class already bears cautionary language about the risk of pancreatitis and allergic reactions, as well as hypoglycemia when used in combination with other diabetes medications.

The FDA has also previously recommended adding a warning about the potential risk for heart failure to a few DPP-4 inhibitors’ labels, and research also shows that they may influence pancreatic, thyroid, colon, melanoma and prostate cancer.

Many patients must balance the risk for potential side effects against the risk of developing complications from untreated diabetes, which can be lethal.

Diabetes Medication Lawsuits

Diabetes medications such as Onglyza and other DPP-4 inhibitors have been linked to multiple alarming and potentially fatal side effects, including joint pain, pancreatitis, and heart failure.

If you or someone you love has suffered injury or death after taking a DPP-4 inhibitor such as Onglyza, you could be entitled to substantial financial compensation for medical bills and other damages.

In general, diabetes medication lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.