This is Michael Brady Lynch, lead trial attorney for The Michael Brady Lynch Firm.

First Actos was linked to bladder cancer, now Byetta to pancreatic cancer.

The diabetes drug Byetta has a long history of safety problems ranging from pancreatitis to renal failure. However, the warnings signs have taken on an entirely different meaning in a recent study unveiled this week.

A study presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes’ (EASD) 47th Annual Meeting detailed the ominous finding that Byetta is associated with a risk of pancreatic cancer at a rate 2.9-fold higher than for non-users. Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers there is. This is a serious blow to the safety profile of Byetta.

Time and time again I hear drug companies defend their harmful products with sayings like “Every drug has side effects” and “No drug is 100 percent safe.” However, when a cancer risk is inserted into the mix, the risk/benefit of a drug changes radically. Like Actos and bladder cancer, once an association with cancer is revealed, the medication fails in a risk-benefit analysis, period. With all the alternatives to Byetta available, the drug should be removed from the market.

About the Firm: The Michael Brady Lynch Firm is a trial firm with a focus on pharmaceutical mass tort cases involving SSRI and Anti-Seizure Medication Birth Defects such as Lexapro, Zoloft, Effexor, Prozac, Celexa, Paxil, Depakote and Topamax, as well as Actos Bladder Cancer and Fosamax Femur Fractures, and medical device cases including DePuy Hip and Trans-Vaginal Mesh cases. Contact us today if you or someone you know has experienced side effects involving these products.