Actos

October 6, 2016

Actos and a Link to Pancreatic Cancer

Despite many studies showing that the diabetes drug Actos is linked to an increased risk of developing bladder cancer, those in the industry are still trying to prove that is not true. The results of a recent large-scale study are now suggesting there is not a significant risk of bladder cancer for patients who take Actos.

First, it should be noted that there does appear to be some increase in the number of patients who have taken Actos as compared to diabetics who have not taken Actos. While researchers like to discuss whether things are significant or statistically significant, to any single patient who develops bladder cancer as a result of taking Actos, we can be fairly certain that it is very significant to that patient. Continue reading

April 29, 2016

Researchers: Actos Linked to Bladder Cancer

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Actos is a medication used to treat patients with type II diabetes by keeping their blood glucose levels down. The medication is a member of a class of drugs, but only Actos seems to be linked to an increased risk for developing bladder cancer according to a recent news feature form UPI. There is another drug in the same class of medications known as Avandia (brand name for rosigilatazone), but that drug, while chemically similar, does not appear to cause any increased risk of bladder cancer, as is the case with Actos. While it is normally an entire class of medications that has the common trait which causes a disease or other adverse health event, it is not unheard of for the problem to be drug specific, as is the case with Actos.

An example of an entire class of drugs that has been shown to cause serious health consequences is known as New Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs) like Eliquis, Xarelto, Savaysa, and Pradaxa. Continue reading

August 18, 2015

Cooper v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals: Actos Litigation

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In Cooper v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals, an appeal from the Court of Appeal for the State of California, Second Appellate District, a husband and wife filed a lawsuit against Takeda Pharmaceuticals in which they alleged defendant’s Actos drug was responsible for husband’s bladder cancer, with which he was diagnosed in 2011.

Takeda manufactures pioglitazone, which is the generic name for Actos, a drug used to treat and control Type 2 diabetes. The drug was first on the market following approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration, and husband took the medicine from 2006 until his diagnosis with bladder cancer in 2011. Continue reading