The American FDA (Food & Drug Administration) in August issued a statement in which they expressed concerns over the safety of Byetta because there have been 30 cases of pancreatitis amongst the 700,000 patients who are prescribed Byetta in the US. The week after their statement was made I asked the FDA to provide figures of the number of pancreatitis cases there are each year in type-2 patients who do NOT take Byetta.
After initially questioning why I wanted to know and what was my interest in this, to which I answered honestly that I am a concerned patient who is prescribed Byetta, the FDA has refused to comment further.
I now have the information I asked for, but from an alternative source, and I can understand why the FDA were unwilling to comment further!!
It transpires that the number of cases of pancreatitis for the last few years has averaged 6 cases per 20,000 population. And this is the whole population, not just amongst diabetics. On that basis there should have been around 210 cases amongst Byetta patients, not 30.
It would appear that for those of us who are on Byetta the chance of developing pancreatitis is 7 times less than it is for those not on Byetta. So if you are taking Byetta, or it has been suggested that you should, then don't let this piece of US government mis-information put you off. Not only does it appear to be safe, but in all probability safer than taking something else instead!
After initially questioning why I wanted to know and what was my interest in this, to which I answered honestly that I am a concerned patient who is prescribed Byetta, the FDA has refused to comment further.
I now have the information I asked for, but from an alternative source, and I can understand why the FDA were unwilling to comment further!!
It transpires that the number of cases of pancreatitis for the last few years has averaged 6 cases per 20,000 population. And this is the whole population, not just amongst diabetics. On that basis there should have been around 210 cases amongst Byetta patients, not 30.
It would appear that for those of us who are on Byetta the chance of developing pancreatitis is 7 times less than it is for those not on Byetta. So if you are taking Byetta, or it has been suggested that you should, then don't let this piece of US government mis-information put you off. Not only does it appear to be safe, but in all probability safer than taking something else instead!
