Analysis of drug-induced pancreatitis reports within the United States Food and Drug Administration and Veterans Health Administration Drug Event Reporting Systems

  • Kristen Wilhite Robley Rex Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Louisville, KY
  • Jennifer Meyer Reid Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Lexington, KY
  • Carrie Isaacs Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Lexington, KY
  • Matthew Lane Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Lexington, KY
Keywords: incretin, GLP-1 agonists, DPP-4 inhibitors, adverse drug event, antipsychotic

Abstract

Introduction: A true case of drug-induced pancreatitis (DIP) can be difficult to define due to a lack of monitoring parameters and potential confounders to the diagnosis of pancreatitis. Adverse drug event (ADE) reporting systems may give insight into which medications and drug classes are most commonly associated with DIP.

Objectives: This study aimed to analyze two United States (US) ADE reporting systems to determine the most common drugs associated with a report of DIP and to compare what is reported to what is published about drugs that carry a high risk of DIP.  

Methods: We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional evaluation of ADE reports from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) between 2007 – 2021.   

Results: We identified 53,181 and 1,520 reports of suspected DIP from the FDA and VHA databases, respectively. Incretin-based therapies (GLP-1 RAs and DPP-4is) were the most common drugs with DIP reports in both databases.  

Conclusions: Incretin-based therapies comprised approximately 1 in every 5 reports of suspected DIP submitted to two major US ADE databases from 2007 - 2021.  These newer medication classes appear to be associated with pancreatitis more frequently than traditional culprit medications.

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Author Biographies

Kristen Wilhite, Robley Rex Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Louisville, KY

Department of Pharmacy

Jennifer Meyer Reid, Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Lexington, KY

Department of Pharmacy

Carrie Isaacs, Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Lexington, KY

Department of Pharmacy

Matthew Lane, Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Lexington, KY

Department of Pharmacy

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Published
2023-12-01
How to Cite
1.
Wilhite K, Reid JM, Isaacs C, Lane M. Analysis of drug-induced pancreatitis reports within the United States Food and Drug Administration and Veterans Health Administration Drug Event Reporting Systems. jpadr [Internet]. 2023Dec.1 [cited 2025Feb.18];4(4):9-15. Available from: https://jpadr.com/index.php/jpadr/article/view/150