An Invokana lawsuit alleges that the diabetes drug led to kidney failure.

Plaintiff Loris F. alleges she suffered an acute kidney injury and acute kidney failure after she took Invokana to treat her type-2 diabetes.

According to the Invokana lawsuit, she believes Invokana was the cause of that kidney trouble, and she argues that manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals and its parent company Johnson & Johnson failed to properly warn patients about the possibility of Invokana kidney failure.

According to Loris’s Invokana lawsuit, Invokana was the first drug in a new class of diabetes medications known as SGLT2 inhibitors. Part of the way Invokana medication lowers blood sugar levels is by blocking reabsorption of glucose into the bloodstream in the kidneys.

This action causes the body to excrete more glucose through the urine instead of returning it to the blood.

Reports of Invokana Kidney Failure

Loris refers to a report about Invokana in the May 2015 publication of Quarter Watch, a review published by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, that reports on adverse drug events reported to the FDA.

This report says that more than 450 adverse events were reported in conjunction with Invokana medication in the first year it was on the market.

Loris says several of these reports were about kidney problems, including “fifty-four reports of kidney failure or impairment, fifty-four cases of severe dehydration or fluid imbalance, eleven cases of kidney stones, and fifty-two cases of abnormal weight loss.”

Despite these reports of adverse events, Loris says, the warning information for Invokana does not say enough about the risk of Invokana kidney failure. It states only that “kidney problems” are a “possible side effect” of Invokana, she says.

She argues that a proper warning would specifically address the risk of kidney failure and the extent of that risk. Had the defendants offered such a warning, she says, she never would have used Invokana.

Symptoms of Kidney Failure Caused by Invokana

Kidney failure, or renal failure, happens when the kidneys do not adequately remove waste products from the blood. It can develop gradually over time, as in chronic kidney disease, or it can happen more suddenly and quickly in the form of acute kidney failure.

Patients like Loris who experience acute kidney failure may experience any of several different symptoms. One possible first symptom is water retention, which may manifest as weight gain or as swelling in the face or extremities.

Fluid may accumulate in the lungs, causing shortness of breath. Some patients may have unusually dark urine, or their urine production may decrease or completely stop.

Internally, acute kidney failure causes an increase in metabolic waste products like creatinine and urea nitrogen in the blood. The increase of these wastes may lead to other symptoms of kidney failure like fatigue, itching, nausea, loss of appetite, or decreased ability to concentrate.

Loris says that the risks of these side effects from Invokana kidney failure make the drug “unreasonably dangerous and defective as formulated.” She suggests the defendants had no business promoting Invokana as a safe and effective treatment for diabetes when they in fact were aware about its associated risk of renal failure.

The Invokana Kidney Failure Lawsuit is filed under Case No. 2:16-CV-01386 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.