Januvia Side Effects: Pancreatitis and Skin Rash

Januvia, manufactured by Merck & Company and generically known as sitagliptin, is used by type 2 diabetes patients who have high levels of sugar in their blood. These patients are not insulin dependent, so with proper diet, exercise and use of the drug, type 2 diabetics can control their blood sugar levels. However, Januvia has been linked to serious side effects such as pancreatitis – a condition where the pancreas is in a state of inflammation and has enzymes being excreted that cause the inflammation in the pancreas.

Januvia Side Effects: Acute Pancreatitis

The pancreas produces and releases certain hormones, including insulin, which helps to regulate a person’s blood sugar levels. Januvia acts to signal the pancreas to create more insulin and to signal the liver to produce less glucose, which helps to regulate the sugar in the blood stream. However, there have been reports of Januvia Pancreatitis, skin rash and other more serious Januvia side effects listed below:

• Acute / chronic pancreatitis. Certain people are prone to getting attacks of acute pancreatitis, acute meaning that it happens quickly and lasts only a short period of time. So acute pancreatitis is an attack of pancreas that will go away with simple and proper treatment, whereas chronic pancreatitis stays and never goes away. Usually you have to remove the pancreas because pancreatitis, whether it's chronic or whether it's an acute attack, causes great abdominal pain – tremendous abdominal pain.
• Pancreas divisum. You can have an anomaly of the pancreas. The pancreas sometimes, instead of having two ducts leading from it, has only one duct. That's called pancreas divisum. That can cause a backup of enzymes.
  
  Sometimes the enzymes are backed up because there is a physical blockage in the bile duct. If there's a blockage in the bile duct – from stones, you can have a back up of the enzymes in the pancreas causing it to inflame. The two drugs that we're dealing with – Januvia and Janumet – can cause pancreatitis and have been associated with an increase in pancreatitis in the general population. Pancreatitis, once it emerges, is a highly painful abdominal pain which can spread to other organs and could lead to death.
• Necrotizing pancreatitis / pancreatic cancer. Another major problem with pancreatitis is that you can get a necrotizing, or death of the cells, of the pancreas. The pancreas actually can kill itself by eating itself up with its own enzymes.

Even though a person may not die from pancreatitis or have necrotizing pancreatitis, a third problem is that each attack of pancreatitis can cause the death or malfunction of pancreatic cells – which is known as cutaneous vasculitis. If you get too many attacks of pancreatitis over your lifetime, you are also prone to have necrotizing pancreatitis and/or death from the spreading of the inflammation. It also increases the possibility of pancreatic cancer, which is also a fatal disease for which there's no treatment

Januvia injury – Getting help for Januvia side effects

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received over 80 reported cases of Januvia side effects. If you or a loved one has been injured by Januvia side effects, then you should contact an attorney in your area to make sure that your rights are properly represented. Statute of limitation laws create deadlines by which you have to submit your claim, so if you don’t act now, you may lose your ability to file a Januvia lawsuit and be compensated for your injuries.

Januvia Lawsuits

Januvia injury lawyers say that Januvia lawsuits are being filed against Merck & Company for failing to warn patients about the increased risk of developing pancreatitis. They say that patients who have developed the disease likely have hospital bills, lost wages and may have also suffered emotionally – all because the drug maker didn't do the right thing.

Check out the following articles for more information about Januvia, filing a Januvia lawsuit and finding a Januvia attorney.

• For more information about Januvia, see Drug Overview: Januvia
• To find out more about the FDA warnings, see Januvia: Information and Warnings
• If you would like to learn more about Januvia lawsuits, see Januvia Lawsuits, Litigation & Lawyers
• To learn more about Januvia attorneys and how to find one, see Hiring a Januvia Attorney and Lawyer