"I Blame Byetta for My Husband's Death"

Sidney, OH"My husband was prescribed Byetta in late 2005 to replace insulin," says Julie W. "Although Charles had type 2 diabetes he was healthy and his diabetes was controlled by a good diet, but Byetta made him lose his appetite and he went downhill from there." Julie knows about the association between Byetta and acute pancreatitis, but Charles died from pancreatic cancer. "I'll blame his death on Byetta for the rest of my life."

In 2007, Charles lost 34 lbs in 6 months, "without going on a diet and maintaining the same lifestyle," Julie explains. "Charles always was a very active man; he left home at 8am and got home at 5pm and did all the maintenance in our church.

"I remember getting very mad about him taking this drug because I didn't even know what to fix for supper, he wouldn't eat anything—he wasn't hungry. Byetta holds food in the stomach so you aren't hungry because food is digested slowly. He also looked terrible. And he had trouble controlling his blood sugar levels but then again, he wasn't eating, thanks to Byetta. I told him to go back to this diabetes doctor who prescribed Byetta, but Charles thought the doctor knew best, unlike me--I always question things.

He ended up having a bunch of tests including a gastroscopy--a scope was put into his stomach because they thought he had cancer. They found a mass around his portal vein which controls blood throughout the whole body. They called it pancreatic cancer because it was situated at the top of the pancreas.

I checked his background: no one in his family ever had cancer (that I could find) and they say we inherit this kind of cancer. They gave Charles radiation and chemo and the tumor did shrink. Then a surgeon wanted to remove the tumor but they couldn't get it; however they removed his gallbladder and then he had to have his stomach pumped every 7 days because it filled up with fluid. That went on from January until he died this past June.

And another thing: As soon as we found out he had cancer we went back to the diabetes doctor but she transferred him back to his regular doctor, like she wanted nothing to do with us. His regular doctor put him back on insulin. I always blamed the Byetta but he would always tell me, 'You are not a doctor.'

After Charles died, I met this lady coming home from church one Sunday. She was a realtor and had an open house so I stopped. We talked about our husband's deaths, compared stories and they were too much alike. Her husband had prostate cancer. They treated his cancer as they usually do and had to remove his gallbladder, and he had his stomach pumped once a week for the rest of his life and guess what? He was also on Byetta and he was healthy before diagnosed with prostate cancer. I know it was two different types of cancer but they both had gallbladders taken out; they both had to get their stomach pumped; they both took Byetta and they both died.

I call that too much of a coincidence and I don't think the doctors are connecting the dots when it comes to Byetta.

When my cousin read your article about Byetta in the Dayton newspaper she called me; then I went online and filed a complaint with LawyersandSettlements.

No one will ever change my mind about this drug. I haven't settled the estate yet so I asked my lawyer what I should do. He told me to go ahead and send the paperwork to Robert Salim in Los Angeles, your Byetta lawyer. It's not that I want a bunch of money because money isn't going to bring Charles back. Rather I want this drug taken off the market; I don't want any more people to die from Byetta. Charles was only 68 and like I said, he wasn't a typical diabetic; he was very active and had his diabetes under control. He only took 10 units of insulin once a day and his pancreas worked, not just as well as yours or mine.

I know Charles would have had a longer life if not for this drug. Until it is proven to me otherwise I am willing to fight; it isn't right that people die from bad pharmaceuticals such as Byetta."