FDA warns of severe joint pain risk with DPP-4 diabetes drugs - 08/28/15

I wonder about the effectiveness of this class of drugs anyway. Several years ago my doc prescribed Janumet which is a Januvia/metformin combo. It did absolutely nothing to lower my daily sugars or HA1C. So that was discontinued. A couple of years ago he prescribed Onglyzia which is in the same class. Recently my prescription was needing to be renewed. As I was getting better control through life style changes and had dropped the daily Lantus dose from 80 units to 66 I just let it go. I saw no change in my fasting sugars or the good control I am having postprandial. I know this is anecdotal. As to the joint pain issue I have had some pretty painful joints, knees especially, that has gotten better. I have hardly any knee pain which I attributed to cycling which builds up the supporting muscles. Maybe some credit should go to stopping Onglyzia.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/28/us-diabetes-drugs-warning-idUSKCN0QX25E20150828
A class of diabetes drugs that include Merck & Co Inc's Januvia has been linked with severe joint pain, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday.

The FDA said it had identified 33 cases of severe joint pain in patients taking a class of drugs known as DPP-4 inhibitors between Oct. 16, 2006, when the first one was approved, through Dec. 31, 2013.

The most frequent number of cases, 28, occurred with Januvia, known generically as sitagliptin. Five cases were reported with AstraZeneca Plc's Onglyza (saxagliptin), two with Boehringer Ingelheim's Tradjenta (linagliptin), and one with Takeda Pharmaceutical's Nesina (alogliptin).

A spokesman for Merck, Steven Cragle, said the reason the number of cases was higher with Januvia is that it was the first to market and is the most widely prescribed, accounting for about 80 percent of DPP-4 prescriptions in the United States.