Saxagliptin (brand name Onglyza) is a popular oral diabetes medication used to treat patients diagnosed with type-2 diabetes. It belongs to a class of drugs known as DPP-4 inhibitors.

While the drug can be very effective in normalizing blood sugar levels of diabetic patients, it has also been linked to saxagliptin heart failure.

How Does Saxagliptin Work?

Rather than working on the pancreas to have it excrete more insulin or by decreasing the amount of glucose in the liver, saxagliptin works by affecting an enzyme in the body that is responsible for decreasing incretin hormones.

Saxagliptin works by inhibiting DPP-4 which allows the amount of these incretin hormones released to be at an increased level in the body. In turn, the increased incretin hormone levels cause insulin to be secreted in a more selective manner then as opposed to other diabetes medications.

It also stabilizes the rate of glucogenesis which is responsible for stabilizing blood sugar in the liver.

Other diabetic medications have been known to “overshoot” with response to lowering blood sugar levels. With other medications that indiscriminately lower blood sugar levels, there is a chance that those diabetic medications can lead to hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar.

Onglyza has a better track record of mimicking the body’s natural rhythms of increasing and decreasing glucose level, so the medication can bring blood sugars to a more consistent level.

The Risk of Saxagliptin Heart Failure

Unfortunately, despite its clinical efficacy in treating some difficult-to-treat diabetes cases, saxagliptin does come with risks. Saxagliptin heart failure is one risk that patients may not be informed of, and this can have life-altering consequences.

Heart failure often gets confused and used interchangeably with the term heart attack. Individuals may think that heart failure refers to the heart failing to beat any longer, but that is essentially the definition of a heart attack.

In contrast, heart failure is a condition in which the heart is unable to keep up with the body’s demand for blood. It becomes too weak to efficiently pump the appropriate amount of blood to keep the body operating in a functional way.

The FDA has a black box warning advising about saxagliptin heart failure on the product’s label. A black box warning on the drug is the FDA’s most serious warning that the medication can carry.

Heart failure itself can lead to additional cardiovascular complications. Saxagliptin heart failure can lead to thromboembolism where the body produces blood clots. These clots can then travel through the veins back to the heart and lungs where it can cause a pulmonary embolism, heart attack or stroke, all of which are serious and can be potentially fatal.

Heart failure can also cause an irregular heartbeat known as a heart arrhythmia. A number of different types of heart arrhythmias may develop from heart failure, including left bundle branch block, ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation and atrial fibrillation. All of these conditions are related to an increased risk of stroke or heart attack.

Taking Legal Action Over Saxagliptin Heart Failure

If you have suffered from saxagliptin heart failure after taking the drug to treat your diabetes, you may be eligible to file a legal claim. An attorney can review your case in a no-cost, no-obligation consultation and can help you in deciding if pursuing a lawsuit is right for you.