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Wrongful Death Lawsuit against Merck for Januvia Diabetes Medication

The diabetes medication Januvia, manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Merck, is being blamed for another patient’s death. As a result, another Januvia wrongful death lawsuit has been filed. Despite several pending civil suits, Januvia has not yet been pulled from the market.

The latest among several Januvia lawsuits was filed in California federal court against both Merck & Co. and Eli Lilly and Company on October 7th, 2013. The suit joins several others alleging that the medication was ultimately responsible for the deaths of unsuspecting medical patients. Leeta Anderson claims that Januvia and Byetta were the cause of her husband’s pancreatic cancer that led to his death. Anderson’s husband was prescribed both drugs in September of 2010 to treat type-2 diabetes. He died nearly two years later. During the time in which he took his diabetes medications, Mrs. Anderson was not aware that Januvia and Byetta had been linked to increased risks of pancreatic cancer.

Januvia Lawsuits Pile Up

Another wrongful death lawsuit was also filed this past October. An Alabama man, Phillip Golomb, filed a civil suit against Byetta and Januvia claiming his wife also died from pancreatic cancer as a direct result of the drugs. Golomb’s wife, Sally, took Januvia from 2007 to 2010 and Byetta for two years before that to treat type-2 diabetes. Mrs. Golomb passed away from pancreatic cancer in August of 2011.

In Arizona, Norma Eaton also died of pancreatic cancer caused by Januvia in the summer of 2011. A wrongful death lawsuit filed on her behalf calls for Januvia to be taken off the market and cites a number of studies showing that the medication produces a higher risk for developing pancreatic cancer. Like Mrs. Anderson, no one in the Eaton family was made aware of the link between Januvia and cancer until after Norma Eaton’s death.

Back in March of 2013, individual lawsuits filed in Illinois on behalf of three patients alleged they developed pancreatic cancer after taking Januvia. Two of those patients died and their spouses subsequently filed Januvia wrongful death lawsuits. The lawsuits allege that Merck was aware of the link between its drug and an increased risk for pancreatic cancer. However, company officials allegedly withheld that knowledge so that Januvia could be approved by the FDA. The suit further alleges that Merck failed to test the drug properly.

 

 

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