Birth Defects from Invokana

Posted by Lawsuit Information on August 11th, 2015

Invokana is a drug that is relatively new to the market and is being marketed to type 2 diabetics to help control insulin levels. It has recently been the cause of many lawsuits regarding serious complications. It is still unclear just how unsafe this drug is for mothers but here is some of the information available which mostly warns mothers that are pregnant and breastfeeding not to take the drug. Because the side effects for the mother can be fatal and serious, the effects on the fetus are also just as detrimental.

Many times when women seek to determine whether or not they should take a drug while pregnant they look at the FDA risk category. This one is in the C category which means that it has been shown to cause harm to the fetus in animal testing. Now please keep in mind that this categorization does not mean that it is safe in humans. It just means that there has not been sufficient evidence to classify it as a level D. Often the case with new drugs that have not been tested is that they start out as a class C and then after many cases are observed and reported, it is then changed to a category D. This is a harmful way to test a drug and not safe for anyone. Clearly, unfortunately the system is flawed.

While the animal testing showed toxicity in the second and third trimester, it seems there is still not enough information from humans to make a statement on how dangerous it is. As we said, this is still a new drug. Given that it has been the subject of lawsuits for major life threatening issues like kidney failure, heart attack, renal failure and ketoacidosis, all of these issues would affect the unborn child as well.

When it comes to breastfeeding the evidence is similar. Because the drug is so new, there is what they call insufficient human data. However, the tests in animals showed the drug was excreted in breast milk.

If you’re pregnant or considering becoming pregnant and taking this drug you should also know that there have been lawsuits surfacing over these life threatening complications that would affect you and your baby. Ketoacidosis is the chronic and toxic buildup of ketones in the blood that can lead to coma or death.

Just look at the history of this new drug so you can see that it is not smart to consider it safe. It was only approved in 2013 by the FDA. Then in by 2014, the FDA received 20 cases that showed the drug caused the very dangerous condition of ketoacidosis. And just in 2015 the FDA released a safety warning that the drug causes this dangerous condition. It takes time for drugs to be reported as unsafe when they hit the market and sadly, just because they are on the market, doesn’t mean they are safe which is what most people assume.

This drug also interactions with certain drugs, supplements and conditions very badly and should not be taken if you have certain allergies. For instance, this drug should not be taken if you have serious kidney or liver problems or type 1 diabetes. Please remember, it is not recommended for pregnant or breastfeeding women. visit here for reference.