Safety Alerts for Human Medical Products > Canagliflozin (Invokana, Invokamet): Drug Safety Communication - Increased Risk of Leg and Foot Amputations

Safety Alerts for Human Medical Products > Canagliflozin (Invokana, Invokamet): Drug Safety Communication - Increased Risk of Leg and Foot Amputations

U.S. FDA Advisory

May 16, 2017: Canagliflozin (Invokana, Invokamet): Based on new data from two large clinical trials, the FDA has concluded that the type 2 diabetes medicine canagliflozin (Invokana, Invokamet, Invokamet XR) causes an increased risk of leg and foot amputations. FDA is requiring new warnings, including the most prominent Boxed Warning, to be added to the canagliflozin drug labels to describe this risk.

Final results from two clinical trials – the CANVAS (Canagliflozin Cardiovascular Assessment Study) and CANVAS-R (A Study of the Effects of Canagliflozin on Renal Endpoints in Adult Participants With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus) – showed that leg and foot amputations occurred about twice as often in patients treated with canagliflozin compared to patients treated with placebo, which is an inactive treatment. Amputations of the toe and middle of the foot were the most common; however, amputations involving the leg, below and above the knee, also occurred. Some patients had more than one amputation, some involving both limbs.