FDA warns of Byetta risk for severe pancreatitis

WASHINGTON The Food and Drug Administration has received six reports of hemorrhagic or necrotizing pancreatitis in patients taking Eli Lilly’s Byetta, an injected drug used for treating Type 2 diabetes and known generically as exenatide.

All six cases required hospitalization, and two patients died. At the time of reporting, four were recovering.

The FDA warns that patients should discontinue medication use if pancreatitis is suspected, and that there are no signs to distinguish acute hemorrhagic or necrotizing pancreatitis associated with Byetta from less severe forms of the disease.