Widely Used Diabetes Drug Can Cause Flesh-Eating Genital Infection
- FDA found risk tied to drugs from J&J, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly
- Side effect found in 12 patients, including one who died
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning doctors and patients that some widely used diabetes drugs may, in some rare cases, cause a flesh-eating bacterial infection of the genitals.
The condition, known as Fournier’s gangrene, developed in a dozen patients shortly after they began taking the medicines between March 2013 and May 2018, the FDA said. The seven men and five women were all hospitalized and underwent surgery for the condition. One patient died.