On February 13, 2020, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requested that Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai remove its weight-loss drugs Belviq and Belviq XR from the market due to findings from a clinical trial showing that long-term use of Belviq was associated with cancer.
The FDA has warned patients to stop taking Belviq immediately, dispose of leftover pills, and contact their doctors. The FDA recommended that doctors stop prescribing this drug.
Eisai has since removed Belviq from the market.
Belviq Cancer Litigation
Belviq was approved in 2012 as an option to help people struggling with excess weight, obesity, or other related health problems. It was the first drug proven to help people lose weight and keep it off without raising their risk for heart problems according to a five-year, 12,000-patient study.
Eisai was aware that there was a risk of cancer associated with using Belviq. For example, in 2013, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) informed Eisai that it was concerned about animal study data showing cancerous tumors. Eisai failed to conduct additional long-term testing to determine whether patients ingesting Belviq were more likely to develop cancer.
Instead, Eisai continued to market Belviq in the United States without safety warnings and actually expanded the use of its drug by developing an extended release version of Belviq based on previous studies submitted to the FDA.
At all relevant time, Eisai was aware of the increased risk of cancer of Belviq, including when it submitted Belviq XR for approval.
However, it was not years later when the FDA discovered the increased risk of cancer through its own clinical trial testing in 2020, that Belviq was finally removed from the market.
Filing a Belviq Cancer Lawsuit
If you or a loved one have taken Belviq or Belviq XR and are now diagnosed with any form of cancer, you may be eligible to compensation. For a free consultation, please chat with a live representative, submit an inquiry through the form below, or call us (212) 566-7500 today!