Doctors prescribe Invokana™ to help type 2 diabetics regulate blood sugar. The Food and Drug Administration approved Invokana with a 10-5 vote back in March 2013. Some FDA members raised concerns about Invokana’s potentially serious side effects, saying the significance of clinical trial findings were unclear. For this reason, the FDA ordered Johnson & Johnson to conduct five post-marketing Invokana safety studies. Within a year, adverse reaction reports filed by SGLT2 inhibitor patients who developed ketoacidosis started pouring into the FDA. Diabetics suffering from ketoacidosis, stroke and kidney damage are now filing Invokana lawsuit injury claims against J&J’s subsidiary company, Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Plaintiffs accuse Janssen as well as other SGLT2 inhibitor drug manufacturers of negligence and “willfully deceiv[ing]” both consumers and healthcare professionals.

What Is Invokana?

Invokana (generic name: canagliflozin) is a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor drug prescribed to patients with type 2 diabetes. Invokana helps lower blood sugar levels by expediting glucose elimination though a patient’s kidneys. Other SGLT2 inhibitor drugs include:

• Invokana™ (canagliflozan)
• Invokamet® (canagliflozan and metformin HCL)
• Farxiga® (dapagliflozin)
• Xigduo XR (extended-release dapaglifloxin and metformin HCL)
• Jardiance® (empagliflozin)
• Glyxambi® (empagliflozin and linagliptin)

Patients taking these drugs are reporting adverse side effects such as heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and ketoacidosis. Ketoacidosis is a condition that causes high acid levels to form within the bloodstream. Invokana ketoacidosis (also known as diabetic ketoacidosis) is a serious complication, since it can lead to coma or even death.

Invokana Lawsuit Information

The FDA issued a drug safety warning due to Invokana’s potentially serious side effect risks in May 2015. According to the FDA, diabetics taking SGLT2 inhibitors have an increased risk of developing ketoacidosis. In fact, 20 different individuals taking SGLT2 inhibitors reported adverse reactions to the FDA between March 2013 and June 2014.

Since the FDA issued that first warning, several diabetics filed injury claims against Invokana’s manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson. Plaintiffs allege the pharmaceutical giant failed to properly warn patients about serious side effect risks associated with SGLT2 inhibitors. Individuals who developed ketoacidosis or other related injuries while taking any SGLT2 inhibitor are encouraged to speak with a lawyer.

Invokana Lawsuit Allegations Include Ketoacidosis, Stroke & Kidney Damage

Between March 2013 and May 2015, the FDA received 73 diabetic ketoacidosis reports from patients taking SGLT2 inhibitors like Invokana. As a result, the FDA revised Invokana’s warning label to emphasize diabetic ketoacidosis and severe urinary tract infection risks in December 2015. Two years after being hospitalized with ketoacidosis, California native Jennifer Anzo filed the first Invokana lawsuit in October 2015. Since then, hundreds of SGLT2 inhibitor patients have filed Invokana lawsuit claims for kidney damage, stroke and renal failure injuries.

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is an extremely rare but potentially fatal condition among type 2 diabetes patients. Therefore, anyone experiencing DKA symptoms or associated complications should seek immediate medical help. DKA complications can eventually lead patients to develop blood clots. Those blood clots can cause a heart attack or stroke as well as other severe injuries. In addition to being very painful, urinary tract infections can cause life-threatening complications like renal impairment and kidney failure.