FDA Botches Diabetes Medication Warning

By Natalie Moore Posted July 1, 2016

• Two FDA-approved diabetes medications cause kidney problems
• Are you experiencing symptoms of an adverse drug reaction? Find out…
• Discover how to get urgent medication information sent directly to your inbox.

Dear Living Well Daily Reader,

If you take diabetes medication, you could be facing a new threat.

Well, not exactly a new threat…

You see, two FDA-approved drugs are now proving to cause kidney issues.

And while these drugs were approved — likely all too quickly — in 2013, the cases of kidney disease in patients taking these meds are starting to pile up.

In fact, between 2013 and 2015, there were 101 cases of acute kidney injury linked to taking these meds. Even worse, the FDA warns that it’s entirely possible many more cases have gone unreported.

Double Trouble for Diabetics

Canagliflozin (Invokana, Invokamet) and dapagliflozin (Farxiga, Xigduo XR) are prescribed, along with diet and exercise, to help lower blood sugar in adults with Type 2 diabetes.

Both drugs use the kidneys to remove sugar from the body through urine. This could be one reason why kidney damage is on the rise amongst their users.

The FDA recommends that health care professionals assess kidney function and consider factors like chronic kidney problems, congestive heart failure, and decreased blood volume prior to prescribing this medications.

In addition, anyone taking diuretics, blood pressure medications called angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) is at higher risk for an adverse reaction.

If you have any of the above medical issues or are taking any of the listed medications with canagliflozin or dapagliflozin, you should contact your doctor immediately.

Signs of acute kidney injury include decreased urination and swelling in the legs. IF you start experiencing  these symptoms you need to get emergency medical treatment STAT.

If you’re taking canagliflozin or dapagliflozin, you may want to contact your doctor to see if there is a safer option.

One Way to Dodge the Danger

While this warning is a little late for the 101 people who experienced unnecessary kidney trauma, it’s not too late for you to take control of your health…

Since the FDA often does a bad job of safely approving drugs, like they did with these two, it’s up to you to protect yourself from their dangerous blunders.

You can’t keep the FDA from hastily approving dangerous drugs or making poor health suggestions, but you can stay on top of the latest, warnings, recalls, and approvals.

One way to do this is through FDA alert emails.

To learn how to sign up for FDA drug alerts, click here.

Live well,

Natalie Moore
Managing editor, Living Well Daily

Written By Natalie Moore

Natalie Moore is a dedicated health researcher with a passion for finding healthy, natural, and science-based solutions. After a decade of direct healthcare experience in western and natural medicine, she was involved in public health research before joining Living Well Daily.

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