Here’s the REAL Paula Deen scandal you haven’t heard about

The scandal around this dangerous diabetes drug

Forget the racial slurs and ridiculous wedding fantasies, the biggest Paula Deen scandal is the one that no one is talking about.

And this is the one that SHOULD be making headlines, because it’s much more dangerous than anything she’s ever said.

Coming around again

It’s pretty clever when you think about it…

Paula became a celebrity chef by pushing dishes that were carbohydrate nightmares. Potatoes, pasta, heavy sauces, and tons of sugar. When she revealed that she’d been a type 2 diabetic for three years, she became the spokesperson for Victoza, a type 2 diabetes drug.

It’s almost as if it was part of her business plan to lure millions of fans into buying Victoza.

But then…the perfect storm.

At almost the same time Paula couldn’t seem to pull her foot out of her mouth, the journal Diabetes broke shocking news about Victoza and other brands (Byetta, Nesina, and Januvia) that are all incretin mimetics.

Researchers revealed that that these drugs might sharply increase risk of pancreatitis. They could also prompt pre-cancerous activity in the pancreas.

Of course, Paula wasn’t shedding tears over that one. Even so, people took notice and Victoza sales went further south than Paula’s famous Savannah restaurant.

Now, months later, we have reports that Victoza use is rebounding. That means more and more people are at risk — again!

FDA officials say they’re “reviewing” the pancreatitis danger. But keep in mind that the agency warned long ago that these drugs might cause “fatal and serious nonfatal cases” of acute pancreatitis.

I’m not sure what’s behind the rebound but we should put the brakes on that like the other scandal did on Paula’s career.

This is one time where her decadent cooking might actually be better for your diabetes than her cure.

Sources:
“Novo’s U.S. Victoza Sales Are Rebounding, CFO Says” Albertina Torsoli, Bloomberg News, 10/31/13, bloomberg.com

“Marked Expansion of Exocrine and Endocrine Pancreas with Incretin Therapy in Humans with increased Exocrine Pancreas Dysplasia and the potential for Glucagon-producing Neuroendocrine Tumors” Diabetes, Published online ahead of print 3/22/13, diabetes.diabetesjournals.org

“FDA investigating reports of possible increased risk of pancreatitis and pre-cancerous findings of the pancreas from incretin mimetic drugs for type 2 diabetes” FDA Drug Safety Communication, 3/14/13, fda.gov