Belviq Lawsuits
Arena Pharmaceuticals and Eisai Inc are faced with lawsuits for a weight loss drug that has been linked to cancer.
Weight loss drug tied to cancer risk in Belviq lawsuits
A growing number of Belviq lawsuits claim that the manufacturers of Belviq, Arena Pharmaceuticals and Eisai Inc., seek damages for patients over the companies failure to disclose the risks of cancer.
Belviq, also known as lorcaserin, is a weight loss drug that has been linked to increased risk of cancer.
What is Belviq or lorcaserin and how does it work?
Belviq is the leading brand name of lorcaserin, a common weight loss drug on the market since 2012. Lorcaserin targets the chemical processes behind hunger, triggering a reaction in the digestive system that makes the patient feel as though they are full after eating less food. Belviq is also prescribed to those with weight-related health problems like high blood pressure and diabetes.
Belviq is manufactured by Eisai Inc. in the United States and by Arena Pharmaceuticals in Switzerland for the European market. Belviq and Belviq XR, a delayed release version of the drug, are both named in ongoing lawsuits.
What are the risks to patients taking Belviq?
In February 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration announced new evidence of a link between Belviq and cancer.
When the FDA approved Belviq in 2012, it required Eisai to conduct a trial to look at the cardiovascular risks associated with the drug. In a five-year placebo trial of 12,000 patients, Eisai found evidence that patients who took Belviq were more likely to develop cancer. Based on data from the trial, the FDA asked Eisai Inc. to recall Belviq and take it off the shelves of drug stores around the country.
Though Eisai released a statement saying it disagrees with the FDA’s conclusion, the company agreed to issue a voluntary recall. While the study was ongoing, Belviq became widely used as a weight loss drug, with patients filling as many as 600,00 prescriptions of the drug per year.
Clinical evidence does not yet show that Belviq causes cancer—it only shows that patients who took Belviq may be at an increased risk to develop cancer. This means that while researchers are still working to determine the mechanism that links Belviq to cancer, the risk to consumers is significant enough that all forms of lorcaserin should be recalled from the market.
Types of cancer linked to Belviq lawsuits against Arena and Eisai
– pancreatic cancer
– lung cancer
– colorectal cancer (bowel, colon, rectal cancer)
Patients who developed cancer after taking Belviq are suing for damages
After the FDA advisory and Eisai’s recall in February, patients began filing lawsuits against the company for failing to disclose the possible risks associated with Belviq.
Eisai and Arena may not have known that Belviq could cause cancer—if they had, they likely wouldn’t have been able to secure FDA approval—but they failed to inform patients, doctors and regulators that there was a possibility of a link to cancer.
A growing number of personal injury suits from cancer patients and survivors who took Belviq are seeking compensation and damages from Arena and Eisai. As the FDA and independent researchers continue trials, the evidence is mounting that Belviq’s manufacturers hid the risks associated with the drug. Personal injury lawyers are now taking on more cases on behalf of cancer patients, survivors and their families.
