My sister was put on Byetta in spite of the fact that she has had two operations for bowel obstuction. Her doctor refused to take her off of it as she was "getting her weight down", not her blood sugars tho. When she became very ill, even her doctor could not believe how bad she looked when she went in, all her family and friends who saw her thought she looked like death was coming, after the took her off the Byetta, and she improved, he ended up dismissing her as a patient. Not sure why, she feels it was because she had told him several times how bad she felt.
It may be a good med for a lot of people, but those who have intestinal problems should not be on it, and a lot of them do not know that.

Excellent and reassuring reply from the Editor.

As a diabetes educator and type 1 for 30+ years, Byetta is a godsend to 99% of patients who use it.

The astounding results in decreased appetite, no longer obsessing about food, the fear of long-term complications because of elevated A1c's, have improved the quality of life for 100's of thousands of those who suffer with this comples disease process.

To make a sweeping judgement based upon the rarety of the acute pancreatitis as it is well justified in the Editor's reply.

Please do not throw out the baby with the bath water!

Just yesterday a man who had just started Byetta one month ago had reduced his A1c from 8.8% to 7.4% in one month and had a 10# weight loss. He was so grateful for how he felt, when he learned his new drug insurance plan would not pay for this new prescription, he paid $280.00 out of pocket because he did not want to live without it.

I've been on Byetta for one year now with no outward signs of pancreatis, however I agree with the writer regarding your magazines two articles. Studies with 25, 50, or 75 people never seem to be an accurate test of a product. I usually disregard any such studies and maybe you should consider not reporting them either.

Readers should be reminded that ALL drugs have risk of side effects, some common and some rare (such as pancreatitis). Drug manufacturers know this, and so do physicians, and thus patients are made aware of all possibilities. We know that there is always a risk of getting in a car accident every time we get in a car, but we still use this mode of transportation despite its risks. The same goes for pharmacologic management of diseases.

I believe in limiting medications as someone will always be worse off from taking it. It usually is a small percentage but there isn't much good for 100% of the population.
Having 2 opinions in the magazine extols it's ability to give you the whole story. Makes it harder on the person who just want to be told do this or do that but makes it easier for the person making an informed decision.