Amarillo Invokana Injury Attorneys

Helping Victims Fight for the Compensation They Deserve

Invokana (canagliflozin) is prescribed to lower blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. It has been linked to serious and potentially fatal side effects including kidney damage, ketoacidosis, and heart attack. If you have been harmed by taking Invokana, or if you have lost someone to a side effect of this dangerous drug, our Invokana injury lawyers in Amarillo can help you hold the pharmaceutical company responsible.

Contact Wood Law Firm, LLP today to schedule your free initial consultation.

Invokana Basics

In 2013, Invokana was the first in a new class of diabetes drugs to receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is a sodium-glucose-cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor. SGLT2 inhibitors are not insulin and they do not increase insulin sensitivity. They work to reduce blood sugar by forcing the kidneys to excrete glucose, via urine, rather than reabsorbing it back into the blood.

Invokana Injuries

Invokana has been linked to several dangerous side effects some of which are potentially fatal. They include:

• Renal impairment
• Kidney failure
• Diabetic ketoacidosis
• Urinary tract infection (UTI)
• Yeast infection
• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Bone fractures
• Toe amputation

Kidney Problems & Life-Threatening Infections

In May 2015, barely more than two years after Invokana hit the market, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) reported in QuarterWatch that it had found at least 457 serious adverse event reports involving Invokana in the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), including 54 cases of renal impairment or failure.

Kidney problems included:

• Kidney failure or impairment
• Dehydration and fluid imbalances
• Kidney stones
• Urinary tract infections
• Abnormal or other weight loss

In December 2015, the FDA announced that it had updated the warning label for Invokana and other SGLT2 inhibitors to include the risk of serious urinary tract infection. The label change was the result of a safety review that found 19 cases of life-threatening blood infections and kidney infections, reported from March 2013 through October 2014. All 19 cases started with urinary tract infections in users of SGLT2 inhibitors and required hospitalization. Some of the patients required treatment in an intensive care unit (ICU) or kidney dialysis.

Ketoacidosis

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a potentially fatal condition in which there is too much acid in the blood. DKA usually occurs in people with type 1 diabetes, not type 2. But in its 2015 safety review, the FDA found 73 reports of DKA in SGLT2 users with type 2 diabetes. All 73 were serious enough to require hospitalization or treatment in the emergency room. The FDA also said that these are only the reported cases and that the actual number is probably higher.

To learn more about Invokana injuries and your legal rights, please call an Amarillo Invokana injury attorney at (806) 304-0447 today.