Plaintiffs Mary and Willie L. have filed a product liability lawsuit in New Jersey federal court against the manufacturers of diabetes drug Invokana.

According to the Invokana kidney injury lawsuit, the plaintiffs file the lawsuit against Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. The Invokana kidney injury lawsuit alleges that Mary was prescribed Invokana approximately around April 2015 by her physician, although she allegedly had safer and alternative methods to Invokana.

Invokana, also known as canagliflozin is a medication used for treatment of type-2 diabetes. Canagliflozin is a type of diabetes drug known as a sodium-glucose transport 2 inhibitor, or SGLT2 inhibitor.

This class of drugs works to lower the blood sugar level of a patient by allowing the increased levels of sugar to become excreted by the kidneys through urination. The allegation, however, is that this particular mechanism may cause an increase in stress on the kidneys, resulting in kidney damage.

Mary says she was prescribed the medication for a once-daily dose in order to help control her type-2 diabetes and improve her glycemic control. This was to be taken in addition to proper diet and exercise.

However, the Invokana kidney injury lawsuit alleges that “after just a few days of use and as a direct result of her treatment with Invokana, Mary … was admitted to Dekalb Medical Center in Decatur, Georgia on September 11, 2015 with acute kidney injury and myocardial infarction.”

She was later discharged from the hospital on Sept. 26, 2015.

According to the Invokana kidney injury lawsuit, she suffered from the following adverse effects including: pain and suffering, emotional distress, economic loss, loss of enjoyment of life, and the suffering of significant expenses from treatment and care.

The Invokana kidney injury lawsuit states that Mary’s injuries and damages were the direct result of her taking Invokana.

Invokana Kidney Injury Facts

The defendant, Janssen Pharmaceutical Company, along with its parent company Johnson & Johnson are facing a growing number of multidistrict litigation lawsuits from plaintiffs who are alleging that they suffered severe adverse effects and complications from taking Invokana. They allege that Invokana has caused diabetic ketoacidosis and  significant kidney complications.

These allegations contend that the manufacturer failed to sufficiently and adequately state the side effects of Invokana, and that in fact there were other safer alternatives that the plaintiffs had the ability to choose from.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in May 2015, warned that Invokana and other medications in the SGLT2 inhibitor drug class can potentially cause diabetic ketoacidosis and other serious kidney damage side effects.

This warning was issued two years after the release of Invokana on to the market. It was released in March 2013 and was the first of its class of the SGLT2- inhibitor medication prescribed to treat type-2 diabetes.

The warning provided by the FDA came out in 2015, after they had received reports of 20 cases of adverse side effects such as diabetic ketoacidosis, ketosis, and ketoacidosis, through their Adverse Event Reporting System.

The Invokana Kidney Injury Lawsuit is Case No. 3:17-cv-06825-BRM-LHG, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.