Diabetes Drug Byetta Facing Lawsuits

Byetta, manufactured by Amylin Pharmaceuticals, is a drug used to treat Type 2 diabetes in a twice-daily or a weekly injectable form. It was approved in 2005 by the FDA. In 2007, the FDA added a black box warning to the label of the drug after reports of serious side effects surfaced. These side effects included acute pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas which can be deadly and is associated with a higher risk for pancreatic cancer.

A lawsuit concerning the drug is pending in California and will come to trial in November. That lawsuit alleges that Byetta caused pancreatitis in five of the plaintiffs and resulted in the deaths of two others. Hundreds of other similar cases are pending elsewhere and will no doubt be affected by the outcome of this lawsuit. The lawsuit maintains that the drug manufacturer was negligent and guilty of misrepresentation in its marketing of the product.

A 2011 study conducted at UCLA shows that Byetta may be responsible for increasing a patient's pancreatic cancer risk by 290 percent and thyroid cancer risk by 473 percent. A published report from the Journal for American Medical Association also reveals that it can double pancreatitis risk in patients, which poses a major risk for the development of pancreatic cancer, one of the most deadly forms of cancer a person can have.

Product Liability and Personal Injury Firm in Dothan, Alabama

Dangerous and defective products which result in health damage, injury, or the death of consumers are just one example of the types of cases a personal injury firm may represent. Cases involving defective consumer products are called product liability cases and are among the most complex and difficult such firms can take on. That is because they are often aimed at large corporations such as drug companies with plenty of revenue and their own legal staff working in their defense.

Morris, Cary, Andrews, Talmadge & Driggers, LLC is a personal injury firm based in Dothan that does not flinch when representing its clients against the negligence of others, whether the other party is a careless driver or a billion-dollar pharmaceutical giant. The firm has extensive experience in this legal field and an impressive track record, which includes one of the largest jury verdicts in the history of the state. The firm's attorneys have been recognized as some of the state's most skillful plaintiff lawyers, receiving distinction as Super Lawyers as well as in the National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 and Top 100 Trial Lawyers. The firm has a 10.0 Superb rating by Avvo and an AV (highest) rating by Martindale-Hubbell. If you need legal help concerning a personal injury or wrongful death in Alabama, Florida, or Georgia, contact the firm for a free case analysis.