Byetta is a drug administered via injection twice daily—within an hour prior to breakfast and dinner. Byetta (exenatide) is intended to treat Type 2 diabetes, mimicking the effects of incretins which are hormones produced and released by the intestines when a person eats a meal. The human-glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) increases insulin secretions from the pancreas, slows the absorption of glucose in the stomach and effectively slows the speed of the glucagon. Exenatide is a synthesized version of a substance found in the saliva of the Southwestern Gila monster and is 50% identical to a hormone found naturally in the human body. GLP-1 has been found to reduce the appetite by slowing the rate at which food leaves the stomach—although patients are cautioned against using Byetta as a treatment for obesity.

Byetta is one among the many newer drugs which treat Type 2 diabetes, in a class known as incretin mimetics. Approved by the FDA in 2005, over thirty reports came into the FDA regarding adverse health events within the next two years. Those thirty people developed pancreatitis after taking Byetta; twenty-two of those had symptoms severe enough to result in hospitalization. Over half of these people saw their symptoms alleviated once Byetta was discontinued. Since that time there have been at least two deaths attributed to Byetta, and more reports sent to the FDA. Research has pointed to a link between Byetta and thyroid cancer, pancreatic cancer and pancreatitis, and while the drug has not been recalled, the number of lawsuits against the manufacturer of Byetta has been steadily increasing.

Byetta is a drug marketed for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. While some diabetes drugs come in pill form, Byetta is a pre-filled pen which the patient injects one hour prior to the morning and evening meal. Unlike some other diabetic drugs, Byetta (exenatide) is made from a synthetic form of a hormone—exendin 4—which naturally occurs in the saliva of the Southwestern Gila monster and was discovered in 1992. The synthesized version of the hormone is nearly 50% identical to another hormone which occurs naturally in the human digestive tract—GLP-1. This GLP-1 hormone increases the insulin in the body, enabling it to balance excessively high levels of blood sugar. The body of a diabetic may lose the ability to produce the necessary levels of GLP-1, allowing blood sugar levels to rise to potentially dangerous levels.

Byetta is a drug used in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, administered twice daily in the form of an injection. The drug is taken within one hour prior to eating breakfast and dinner; while marketed vigorously as a drug which can improve blood sugar levels as soon as day one as well as a “chance to lose some weight,” potential Byetta dangers have since come to light. Several studies show a link between Byetta use and thyroid cancer, pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer.