A plaintiff files a lawsuit against the manufacturers of Invokana, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., alleging products liability. Plaintiff Bianca A. claims their drug is directly responsible for her contriving diabetic ketoacidosis.

Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary that manufacturers Invokana, a popular type-2 diabetes drug. According to the Invokana DKA lawsuit, the medication is prescribed to patients along with a proper exercise program and diet to control high levels of blood sugar in patients with type-2 diabetes.

According to Bianca’s Invokana DKA lawsuit, controlling high levels of blood sugar helps prevent other serious side effects that may come about from having high levels of blood sugar such as nerve problems, blindness, loss of limbs, and kidney damage.

According to the specific allegations in the Invokana diabetic ketoacidosis lawsuit, Bianca was prescribed Invokana in September 2015 by her physician. She was advised to take the medication along with an adjunct exercise and diet routine.

However, in October 2015, she was hospitalized, according to the Invokana DKA lawsuit, “as a direct result of her treatment with Invokana.” According to the plaintiff, she was hospitalized with severe symptoms of vomiting and nausea, including generalized weakness. She was later diagnosed with DKA, or diabetic ketoacidosis.

According to Bianca,  she “endured pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and economic loss, including significant expenses for medical care and treatment.”

The Invokana DKA lawsuit further maintains that the plaintiff is seeking “actual, compensatory, and punitive damages from defendants.”

According to the Invokana lawsuit, the defendants knew or should have known of the serious adverse health risks and specifically the potential for the development of diabetic ketoacidosis and kidney failure associated with their drug. Bianca contends the purported allegations are due to Janssen having “data available to them to that could have been generated by them.”

Invokana is an SGLT-2 inhibitor, which is how the drug functions to remove glucose from the body. According to the Invokana DKA lawsuit, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Invokana in August 2014. However, in September 2015, the FDA announced that SGLT-2 inhibitors cause premature bone loss and fractures.

Moreover,the Invokana DKA lawsuit says that  in December 2015, the FDA also announced that “SGLT2 inhibitors cause diabetic ketoacidosis, pyelonephritis (kidney infections), and urosepsis.”

Other serious Invokana side effects were announced by the FDA and iterated in the Invokana DKA lawsuit. In May 2016, the FDA announced a link between SGLT2 inhibitors and an increased risk of amputations. A June 2016 announcement added that SGLT2 inhibitors can cause severe renal impairment, anaphylaxis, and angioedema.

The Invokana DKA lawsuit maintains that the defendants, “participated in, authorized, and directed the production and promotion of the aforementioned product when they knew, or with the exercise of reasonable care should have known, of the hazards and dangerous propensities of said product…”

They alleged of the defendants that they “actively participated” in conduct that directly resulted in injuries suffered by plaintiff, Bianca.

Her Invokana DKA Lawsuit is Case No. 3:17-cv-05153- BRM-LHG, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.