These types of articles scare the
dickens out of me. Yes, there are a lot of unreported adverse events
that happen with diabetes medications. Not only this, but many in
the medical profession do this intentionally because there are no
clear rules or even guidelines for reporting adverse events. Plus
there are no penalties for misreporting or not reporting.
This prevents an accurate accounting of
what many of our diabetes medications are doing to patients and
especially which ones cause a disproportionate number of deaths.
There are also under reported cases of hospitalization caused by
diabetes medications. I thought this statement was especially
appropriate, “Diabetes drugs have been linked to thousands of
deaths and hospitalizations over the last decade, a MedPage
Today/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found -- but
there is little ability to measure the true risk of the drugs.:
Not all of this can be blamed on the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but this statement is still true,
“Theres gotta be something better than approving drugs based on a
lab test and then losing track of them.” This is only part of the
reason we can honestly say that we have a broken medical system.
Each year the FDA approves new drugs, but only provides a partial
listing of potentially dangerous side effects. Diabetes drugs seem
to bear the brunt of this because the endpoints, such as reducing
heart attacks, strokes, blindness, or amputations are not tested
before the release.
The following is important enough to
quote.
“A MedPage Today/Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel analysis of the case reports from 2004
through March 2014 found about 3,300 deaths and 20,000
hospitalizations in which diabetes drugs were considered the primary
suspect.
The three drugs with the most
reported problems were:
- Sitagliptin (Januvia), a once-daily pill that helps boost insulin production in the pancreas and lower the amount of sugar made in the liver, approved in 2006: 964 deaths and 4,425 hospitalizations.
- Exenatide (Byetta), an injectable that enhances the body's ability to release insulin, approved in 2005: 880 deaths and 7,115 hospitalizations.
- Liraglutide (Victoza), another injectable product, approved in 2010: 319 deaths and 2,827 hospitalizations.
The three drugs made up less than 7%
of the 180 million diabetes prescriptions dispensed in 2013,
according to data supplied by IMS Health, a drug market research
firm. But they accounted for more than half of deaths and reported
hospitalizations last year.
The FDA has called the database a
"critical element" in ensuring the safety of drugs once
they are on the market, but experts say the system misses the vast
majority of cases.
That is due in large part to the
system being voluntary for healthcare professionals. That means
professionals fill out lengthy case reports without incentive or
reimbursement -- or even any guarantee they will trigger an FDA
response.” Unquote
I think that this is a topic that needs
exposure and I would urge everyone to read the full article.
