Class of Diabetes Drugs Linked to Painful Blistering Skin Condition

Written By:
Jessie Paluch
Jessie Paluch

Attorney Jessie Paluch, founder of TruLaw, has over 25 years of experience as a personal injury and mass tort attorney, and previously worked as an international tax attorney at Deloitte. Jessie collaborates with attorneys nationwide — enabling her to share reliable, up-to-date legal information with our readers.

This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy and clarity by the team of writers and legal experts at TruLaw and is as accurate as possible. This content should not be taken as legal advice from an attorney. If you would like to learn more about our owner and experienced injury lawyer, Jessie Paluch, you can do so here.

TruLaw does everything possible to make sure the information in this article is up to date and accurate. If you need specific legal advice about your case, contact us by using the chat on the bottom of this page. This article should not be taken as advice from an attorney.

Class of Diabetes Drugs Linked to Painful Blistering Skin Condition

A popular class of type 2 diabetes drugs referred to as Dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP-4) inhibitors may cause users to develop painful skin conditions and have been linked to painful skin injuries.

Table of Contents

DPP-4 Inhibitors

Dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP-4) inhibitors are linked to painful skin injuries such as:

  • Bullous Pemphigoid
  • Erythema Multiforme
  • Drug Eruption
  • Toxic Skin Eruption
  • Stevens-Johnson Syndrome
  • Eczema
  • Oculomucocutaneous Syndrome

The FDA has  reports of the above skin diseases and additional skin symptoms that appear to be linked to DPP-4 inhibitors, but as of today, the FDA has only required a label change to include the risk of bullous pemphigoid.

FDA Warning

FDA Safety Labeling Change added a new warning for “Bullous Pemphigoid” which is a rare skin disorder that results in skin rashes and blistering on the legs, arms and abdomen.

Pemphigoid can also cause blistering on the mucous membranes.

Mucous membranes produce mucous that helps protect the inside of the body such as eyes, nose, mouth and genitals.

DDP-4 Medications

According to a December 2016 FDA, DPP-4 inhibitors used to treat diabetes mellitus type 2 were found to cause Bullous Pemphigoid in several individuals.

For this reason, the FDA sent out label change requirements to the manufacturers of these drugs.

According to the FDA, each of the reported injured individuals had very serious outcomes, half of them required hospitalization and one died.

DDP-4 Inhibitor Medications
Januvia Janumet Janumet XR
Onglyza Kombiglyze Tradjenta
Nesina Glyxambi Jentadueto
Kazano Oseni Sitagliptin / Metformin

Symptoms and Characteristics of a Pemphigoid Diagnosis

The symptoms and characteristics of a Pemphigoid diagnosis include, but are not limited to:

  • Blistering that occurs on the arms, legs, abdomen and mucous membranes
  • Red rash develops before the blisters
  • Blisters are large and filled with fluid that is usually clear, but may contain some blood
  • The blisters are thick and do not rupture easily
  • The skin around the blisters may appear normal or slightly red or dark
  • Ruptured blisters are usually sensitive and painful
  • Hives and itching

How do I know if My Blisters are Pemphigoid?

The diagnosis of Pemphigoid needs to be made by your doctor or dermatologist, and they may need to perform a biopsy, removing small samples of the skin from the affected area, in order to do so.

If patients see symptoms listed below, the FDA is directing them to discontinue the DPP-4 medication and go see a dermatologist for diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

If you are experiencing a skin irritation or complication, please consider reporting it to the FDA and let us know so that the public is made aware of the risks.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How Do I Pick an Diabetes Drug / Skin Condition Lawyer?

    Sometimes you need a lawyer near you and sometimes its best to hire a lawyer based on the lawyer’s resources and experiences.

    The right lawyer for mass-tort litigations may not be your local lawyer.

    Mass tort cases filed all over the country are often consolidated into a single courtroom in order to move the many lawsuits through the courts in the most effective and efficient way.

    A lawyer experienced with the multidistrict litigation process with the ability to represent clients in all 50 states, is likely to be a good fit for mass tort litigation.

    TruLaw is not afraid to take on the largest drug and medical device companies in the world.

    We work with trusted legal affiliates to make sure that TruLaw clients have the resources and experiences needed to hold big business accountable when they put profits over people.

  • How Can an Diabetes Drug / Skin Condition Lawsuit Help?

    Your lawsuit is designed to help you financially recover from injuries that were caused by someone else.

    We hope putting your trust in TruLaw will take away your concern of protecting your legal rights., but it is most important to us that you spend your time recovering physically.

    Your lawsuit should assist in covering your medical bills, the amount of income and benefits that you lost as a result of your injury and, if your injuries are permanent, we will look to recover for your permanent disfigurement.

    In addition, it is always our hope that your lawsuit will help us to remove dangerous drugs, toxins and devices from the market.

    We are not only lawyers, but also safety advocates that believe in getting information out to the public so no more people are injured.

    We hope you will join us in the role as a safety advocate.

  • Has There Been an Diabetes Drug / Skin Condition Settlement?

    We understand the frustration in waiting to hear about settlements in product liability lawsuits.

    Unfortunately, in drug and device cases, we have no choice but to sue some of the most profitable companies in the world.

    Big Pharma has deep pockets and lawsuits are a cost of doing business for them.

    They are not inclined to settle until it makes business sense to them.

    TruLaw lawyers building our cases with an eye on winning in court as well as settlement, when we believe that is the best result for our clients.

    We will never settle without advising you of your options, and we will keep you posted on our progress, to the extent we are legally able.

  • Is there an Diabetes Drug / Skin Condition Class Action?

    We often hear injured people refer to their personal injury case as a “class action” because their case was grouped together in a lawsuit with other injured people.

    This is most often NOT the case.

    Often, individual cases are grouped together so the attorneys and judge can address common procedural issues initially, saving time for the injured parties and the court, but this is very generally referred to as a “mass tort.”

    A Mass tort refers to civil actions involving numerous plaintiffs against one or a few corporate defendants in state or federal court.

    Class actions are mass torts that are generally used on financial losses and multidistrict litigations (MDL) are generally used on personal injury claims, often in product liability cases.

    MDL is a procedural tool used when plaintiffs have incurred injuries from products manufactured by the same defendant(s).

    Even when plaintiffs incur injuries from the same defendant(s), the amount of damages they may recover for those injuries are often substantially different from other plaintiffs included in the same lawsuit.

    It is important to understand that mass tort cases are an effective tool to getting the attention of the large drug and device companies.

    MDLs assist lawyers in determining exactly what the drug and device companies knew about the risks their products caused and whether or not they should have warned consumers.

    Too often, consumers believe that they can file a single lawsuit and get the attention of big drug companies.

    This is very hard to do.

    Technically, MDLs do not happen until a judicial panel transfers individual cases to a single court.

    Depending on when your lawsuit is filed, you may find yourself automatically transferred to the MDL court or you may wait to learn when and if the JPML believes an MDL is the proper venue for the mass tort.

    But, rest assured, even if your case is included in an MDL, TruLaw lawyers will treat your injuries, your medical history and your financial needs separately.

    We are aware that not all cases are the same.

  • Is there an Diabetes Drug / Skin Condition Lawsuit?

    A corporation, by definition is profit seeking.

    There is no requirement that a corporation act morally.

    Unfortunately, too often we see dangerous drugs, devices and products remain on the market when corporations prioritize profit over people.

    If these same corporations warn consumers of these risks, there is no case.

    We only pursue lawsuits on behalf of individuals who were not warned of the risk associated with the dangerous drug, device or product on the market.

    TruLaw is pursuing diabetes drug / skin condition lawsuits because we believe consumers were not properly warned of the risks of injury.

  • Have you seen Diabetes Drug / Skin Condition Commercial?

    Did a recent diabetes drug commercial grab your attention?

    Did you find our site because you were wondering if you qualify for Diabetes Drug / Skin Condition lawsuits?

    We built the Diabetes Drug / Skin Condition Instant Case Evaluator ℠ as a no cost/no obligation place for you to find answers about your legal rights.

    If you found us today, you are looking for instant answers to whether you should file a diabetes (dpp-4) or other lawsuit and we want to help you.

    We believe that in order for you to make important decisions about your health and your legal rights, you need to start with information.

    We provide you this valuable information so you are prepared to talk to a lawyer.

Written By:
Jessie Paluch
Jessie Paluch

Experienced Attorney & Legal SaaS CEO

With over 25 years of legal experience, Jessie is an Illinois lawyer, a CPA, and a mother of three.  She spent the first decade of her career working as an international tax attorney at Deloitte.

In 2009, Jessie co-founded her own law firm with her husband – which has scaled to over 30 employees since its conception.

In 2016, Jessie founded TruLaw, which allows her to collaborate with attorneys and legal experts across the United States on a daily basis. This hypervaluable network of experts is what enables her to share reliable legal information with her readers!

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