Invokana: The Diabetic Drug That Costs a Limb

DANVILLE, Calif., May 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- 29 million people have type 2 diabetes in the U.S. making it big business for pharmaceutical companies. Released in 2013, Invokana was heralded as a new lifestyle drug and the "darling" of diabetic medications. It was even said to help patients lose weight and reduce high blood pressure! However, this miracle pill wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Kaiser Permanente in California urges its doctors not to prescribe this drug and to closely monitor those patients who are on it. Dr. Steven Nissen, Chairman of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, states that he is "uncomfortable prescribing [Invokana] in view of the amputation risk."  He also calculated that one out of every 69 patients who takes canagliflozin for five years will have a drug-related amputation. Clearly this drug should be taken off the market since toe, foot, and partial leg amputations are twice as likely on Invokana as compared to other diabetic medications.

What is Invokana?
Invokana is a type 2 diabetes medication that works in a different way than past diabetes medications causing excess glucose to exit the body through urine. And since it functions differently, logic would dictate that extensive testing should take place… but sometimes profits exceed logic. From the time that Invokana was released in 2013 and Invokamet in 2014, two FDA warnings have been issued addressing the increased risk for amputations (May 2016 and an update in May 2017).

The Problems with Invokana
You should know about the risks of Invokana because it is another dangerous example of pharmaceutical companies putting profits above patients:

• According to current litigations, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, the makers of Invokana and Invokamet, knew the risks of their drug but failed to warn patients. They even defended and misled doctors and patients concerning the unfavorable findings.
• There are alternative diabetes drugs on the market that don't have FDA amputation warnings.
• Janssen should have conducted long term tests to assess that kidney damage, diabetic ketoacidosis, and doubled toe, foot and lower limb amputation risks were possible BEFORE giving it to patients.

Further Information
For more information about Invokana, please visit the Periscope Group website at periscopegroup.com/injuries/invokana-invokamet. For interviews or to tell your story, contact Jennifer Stanich-Banmiller at (925) 964-1485 or [email protected].

SOURCE Periscope Group

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