Byetta Pancreatic Cancer Victim Sues Amylin, Eli Lilly for Damages

Januvia is an oral medication, but Byetta is a liquid drug that type-2 diabetes patients inject to control their blood sugar levels. Both of these medications have strong connections to pancreatic issues including cancer. One Alabama woman, Nancy “Charlene” Burrage, is suing the manufacturers of Byetta, Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly, claiming the companies are providing a drug that is “defective and unreasonably dangerous.” She was diagnosed with Byetta-caused pancreatic cancer in 2010. Her Byetta lawsuit was filed on July 25, 2013.

Byetta has been available in the U.S. since 2005, although concerns over the safety of the drug appeared in 2010. In fact, research shows that patients taking Byetta had a 10-fold higher chance of developing pancreatic issues compared to others who didn’t use Byetta.

According to Burrage’s lawsuit, the “current warnings for the drug are simply inadequate.” She says the companies she’s suing failed “in their duties to warn and protect the consuming public.” Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers with a very high mortality rate. Burrage may not even live long enough to see the outcome of her Byetta lawsuit, but she hopes any compensation she may be awarded will help care for her loved ones and help to increase warning labels or take the drug off the market.

The Byetta Lawsuit Allegations

Burrage alleges in the Byetta cancer lawsuit that even if the warnings were adequate — which she underscores they aren’t — Byetta “still lacks any benefit sufficient to tolerate the extreme risk posed by the ingestion of the drug.”

Byetta is one of the top-selling drugs, not just diabetic drugs, in the U.S. today. She claims the companies under-warned about the risks of Byetta side effects in print advertising, on websites and blogs; advertised it as safe to consumers when it wasn’t; and also advertised it as safe to doctors who depend on warning labels to make informed decisions. According to the Byetta lawsuit, there wasn’t adequate testing, correct labeling, and there were no updates made to the labeling even when evidence showed the risks of Byetta cancer side effects.

According to the Byetta cancer lawsuit, Burrage “suffers from severe and personal injuries, which are permanent and lasting in nature, including the prospect of death, physical pain, and mental anguish, including diminished enjoyment of life, as well as the need for medical treatment, monitoring and/or medications.”

Her lawsuit states that the pancreatic cancer caused by Byetta is “tragically, statistically certain to result in her death.” The vast majority of pancreatic cancer patients die within three to six months of diagnosis. A tiny sliver of pancreatic cancer victims survive more than five years. There have been few advancements in treatment of this type of cancer in the past 40 years.

Burrage’s Last Wishes

Burrage is choosing to spend the last few months of her life fighting against the company which ultimately will cause her death. She’s suing Byetta makers for failure to warn, design defect, negligence, breach of warranty, negligence misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, and an Alabama-specific manufacturer’s liability doctrine lawsuit.

She’s seeking in excess of $75,000 including compensatory and punitive damages, fees, interests and costs, and any other amounts the jury deems appropriate.

The Byetta cancer lawsuit doesn’t detail Burrage’s current condition or her life expectancy. However, her move to fight the drug manufacturers might help strengthen other Byetta lawsuits around the country. Burrage says “there are no patients for whom the benefits of the drug outweigh the risk.” Type-2 diabetes can be very dangerous if left untreated, but nowhere near as dangerous as pancreatic cancer.

She’s not alone in her Byetta complaints, and there are unfortunately other Byetta victims suffering a similar fate.

The case is Nancy W. Burrage v. Amylin Pharmaceuticals et al., Case No.: 7:13-cv-01387-RDP, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama Western Division.

Were You Prescribed Byetta?

Type-2 diabetes is one of the fastest-growing diseases in the U.S. If you are diabetic and were prescribed Byetta or Januvia, and then suffered pancreatic complications, you might have a Byetta legal claim. Find out what next steps you can take at the Type 2 Diabetes Drugs Januvia, Byetta, Victoza Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. There, you can submit your story and a personal injury lawyer will contact you if you qualify for a free case review.