Those taking a certain class of diabetes drugs say they weren’t told about the link between Farxiga and amputations although studies have shown the danger in recent years.

Patients diagnosed with type-2 diabetes will likely be put on medication to manage that condition by their doctor. One of the most popular forms of drugs on the market for this is known as SGLT2 inhibitors. However, a variety of these types of drugs come with a risk for the lower extremities, a concern reported by patients over the link between Farxiga and amputations.

Concerns about the dangers of Farxiga and the link to amputations has led some medical professionals to rely on other medications for their patients. While all medications carry a risk of some form of side effects, recent studies and patient reports have indicated that the dangers of amputations while taking the diabetes drug Farxiga are more serious than previously thought.

Those type-2 diabetes patients who’ve had to undergo a lower extremity amputation after taking Farxiga might not have realized the dangers of this medication when initially receiving the drug.

A new study indicates that there is a higher risk of amputations while taking Farxiga as well as other SGLT-2 inhibitors.

According to the Scandinavian Farxiga study, patients had a doubled risk of diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening condition, and were also twice as likely to go through a lower limb amputation when compared with individuals taking another form of diabetes medication.

The outcome of the Farxiga study indicated that not only should patients and physicians be aware of the dangers of Farxiga and amputations, but that certain patients should be monitored more closely if SGLT-2 inhibitors are used.

The Farxiga research project’s outcome indicated that patients who already face the high risk of amputation such as those who had foot ulcers or who have been diagnosed with peripheral artery disease should be monitored more carefully as a result of the increased risk of amputation.

A 2017 warning from the Food and Drug Administration revealed that two major clinical trials had linked the use of Canagliflozin to a higher risk of foot and leg amputations.

Some other clinical trials have not revealed such an amputation risk, but the most recent Scandinavian research study poses concerns about the dangers of Farxiga and amputations.

In order to arrive at the results about the dangers of Farxiga and amputations, the most recent research study looked at National Health Data across Denmark and Sweden for more than 17,000 patients taking SGLT-2 inhibitors and an equal number of patients taking another form of drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists.

The study found that lower limb amputation was twice as likely for patients taking an SGLT-2 inhibitor when compared with those taking a GLP-1 receptor agonist in addition to the higher risk of diabetic ketoacidosis.

The researchers in this study linking dangers with Farxiga and amputations also attempted to control for a number of different factors that could explain the connection like other medications, economic conditions, social conditions, and disease history for those patients.