New Diabetes Drug Under FDA Scrutiny Today

An FDA committee is meeting today to determine whether a new type of diabetes drug can overcome safety concerns and be offered to consumers. The drug, dapagliflozin, reduces blood sugar by causing it to be excreted in urine. However, early studies indicate that it might also raise the brisk of breast and bladder cancer and cause liver damage and infections of the genitals and urinary tract.

In a naturally functioning human body, only a small amount of glucose that is filtered by the kidneys is excreted in urine. The rest returns to the bloodstream. Dapagliflozin would cause a substantial increase in the amount of glucose that flows out in urine.

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