Consumer group calls for antidiabetes drug to be withdrawn

A consumer group has petitioned the US Food and Drug Administration to pull the antidiabetes drug liraglutide from the market because of safety concerns. It warns that other drugs in its class may have similar effects to varying degrees.

Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, a non-profit consumer advocacy organisation based in Washington, DC, said that liraglutide (marketed as Victoza by Novo Nordisk)—a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue drug used as a once daily injection for type 2 diabetes—is associated with higher than expected rates of pancreatitis, thyroid cancer, and kidney failure.

The drug was approved by the FDA in January 2010 over the objections of an agency safety reviewer, Karen Mahoney. In its petition Public Citizen cites Mahoney’s recommendation against …